Cat CDZ

The teacher _____ the student for lying.

She _____ for a while.

This house _____ in 1970 by my grandfather.

I _____ for five hours.

The injured _____to the hospital in an ambulance.

The inmates of the juvenile home _____ well by their caretakers.

As the patient could not walk he _____ home in a wheel chair.

It _____ since yesterday.

The students _____ to submit their reports by the end of this week.

I _____ to become a successful writer.

We _____ for the examination.

The robbers ______ by the police.

Read the text and choose the right item. What volunteering taught me Today I am a member of the UN Global Education First Youth Advocacy Group. Many young people have come to me to ask how I got to be in such an initiative. It has always been a pleasure for me to share my volunteer experiences, and it is because of these experiences that I was selected out of 500 applications to serve in this group. It all started when I was in secondary school. I was engaged in student affairs as the president of the UNESCO club, a school platform that brings students together to discuss school matters and the pressing current issues concerning them. After secondary school, I started volunteering within non-governmental organizations. It was at this moment that I began to understand a lot about community development. I was involved in projects and activities relating to peace, human rights and the environment. It was a great pleasure for me to contribute to the development of my community through volunteering because the impact was visible. I had many obstacles while volunteering because people don’t value volunteer work. In Cameroon and especially in my community, people consider volunteering as a waste of time and resources. They cannot conceive the fact that someone can work without remuneration or a salary. My friends and family advised me on several occasions to stop volunteering. I felt very discouraged at some point, but I could not stop because I loved doing it. Volunteering was the top priority in my life. I decided not to pay attention to their advice but to concentrate on my work. By spending time with host families in various regions I got used to cultural differences, which was really helpful during the projects. I learned a lot about what belonged to the norms and values of the local people. For example, how to dress appropriately, eat and even how to shower and go to the bathroom the local way. Most of the things are totally different than in my area, so it took some time to adapt. In Nigeria, I taught English conversation, 3 times a day. I had the opportunity to come up with my own ideas for the classes and tried to be as creative as possible making my lessons not only informative but also fun. Apart from having conversations, we also cooked food, listened to English music and painted. Having a lot of conversations in English on different topics, I understood how to look at things from a different perspective. It also made me think in a more creative way, out of the box, one can say. I think this will help me in the future, looking at things through different glasses. One day, a group of young people came to me and said they had something to say. I was very surprised. They said they were all grateful for the changes I brought into their lives through peer education. I was so happy to hear this that it aroused joy in my heart. This experience made me understand that only volunteer work can have such a profound impact on people’s lives. There are three elements that permitted me to succeed in a life dedicated to volunteering: passion, determination and patience. Volunteering helped me become a job creator, not a job seeker. My advice to my peers is that we cannot succeed in life overnight. We have to work hard to enjoy the fruits of our labour. Even if you have a diploma from the best school in the world, it is not enough because what matters most is your skills, your talent. The best way to discover who you are in order to integrate yourself into society is to volunteer. Volunteering not only allows you to offer your services but to learn and discover new things and improve your skills. One secret in volunteer work is to avoid thinking about money because that is where the problem is. Young people expect to be paid as they are volunteering.

Read the play and choose the right option. It's noon on Saturday. Jay Thomas and his sister are in the mall. Their dad will be back in two hours to pick them up. The brother and sister are going to buy a special Mother's Day gift for their mom. Jay and Nadia begin their shopping adventure at Smith's, the largest department store in the mall. Nadia (to Jay): Let's start in the jewelry department. As Jay and Nadia look at a pair of gold earrings, they hear some soft voices coming from the jewelry case. Earrings: Hey, kids! Buy us! Jay (puzzled): W-Who ... What said that? Earrings: We did! Jay: Talking earrings? No way! Earrings: Way! You know your mom will like us. Nadia (looking at the price tag): Forget it, Jay! They are too expensive. Let's go. Jay and Nadia go on to the perfume section. Perfume bottle: Yoo-hoo! Over here! Buy me, darlings! Jay: Huh? Talking perfume? Perfume bottle: Of course, my dear! And I am so nice! Nadia(to Jay): Everyone buys perfume for Mother's Day. I want something different. When they are at the scarves section, Jay and Nadia hear another voice. Scarf: Dears, you simply must buy me! Jay: More talking things here? Scarf: My beautiful colours can dress up any outfit! Nadia: Mom doesn't wear scarves. Let's try another store. As Jay and Nadia go on walking, the display in the window of the card shop catches Jay's eye. Jay: Hey, Nadia, check this out. This card is almost as big as I am! Card (loudly): Show your mom how much you care - in a BIG way! Buy me! Surprised, Jay and Nadia jump back and hurry away. Nadia: This is crazy! Why are all these things talking to us? I need a break. Let's go to the food court and get some pizza and soft drinks. Jay (to Nadia): We spent here more than an hour and we couldn't find a gift for Mom! Suddenly, a voice whispers from Nadia's soft drink cup ... Soft drink cup: Who says you must buy a Mother's Day gift for your mom? Listen up! Your Mom works hard all day at the hospital. Then she comes home and works hard to take care of your family. What she needs most is rest! Why don't you give your mom a day off? Nadia: What a great idea! We'll ask Dad to help us. Jay and Nadia quickly finish their food and go to meet their dad. Mr. Thomas is surprised when he doesn't see any packages. Mr. Thomas: Hi, kids. What happened? Didn't you find a gift for Mom? Jay: Dad, we have a present, but it isn't something we can put in a box. Jay and Nadia explain their idea to their dad. Mr. Thomas smiles. He likes the idea. Mr. Thomas: That's great! How did you think of that gift? Nadia: Uh . . . It just came to us while we were having a pizza. Mr. Thomas: Well, I know Mom will like it. We'll go to the supermarket on the way home and buy some of her favourite foods. It's morning on Mother's Day Mr. Thomas, Jay and Nadia get up early to make breakfast. Mr. Thomas carries a tray of food upstairs. Jay and Nadiaknock on the bedroom door. Mrs. Thomas (stretching and yawning): Come in! Jay, Nadia and Mr. Thomas (together): Happy Mother's Day! Mrs. Thomas (sitting up): Breakfast in bed! How lovely! Everything looks delicious. Jay gives his mom a piece of paper with a red ribbon around it. Mrs. Thomas: What's this, Jay? Jay: Read it, Mom. Mrs. Thomas (smiling): "Hear ye, hear ye, members of the Thomas family! Today is Mother's Day! We will honour our mother by giving her a day of rest and relaxation. Her wish is our command!" Wow! What a wonderful gift! This is so nice of you! Mrs. Thomas spent the whole day doing what she liked reading, relaxing and watching her favourite movies. Jay and Nadia helped their dad around the house and made a tasty dinner. After the meal, Mrs. Thomas hugged everyone. Mrs. Thomas: This has been the best day ever. Thank you all, so much! It's Monday morning. The alarm clock rings. Mrs. Thomas gets up and knocks on the doors to Jay and Nadia's rooms. Mrs. Thomas: Jay, Nadia, wake up! It's time for school! (Sighing, to herself.) If only every day could be Mother's Day ...

✮ Read the text and mark the true sentences. Amy Logan’s insomnia was leading to a lot of restless nights. Taking a friend’s advice, she decided to pay a visit to a hypnotist. Here Amy looks at the medical benefits of hypnosis and is put into a deep, deep sleep ... . The lights are dim and the couch is comfortable; the hypnotist’s voice is monotonous, yet soothing. “Listen and relax, listen and relax,” he repeats over and over. My arms and legs and even my eyelids are feeling heavy. My breathing is slowing down, as though I’m falling into a deep sleep and then the hypnotist begins ... . There is evidence that the ancient Egyptians used hypnotism over 2,000 years ago, but hypnotherapy as we know it dates from the 18th century. Austrian physician Franz Mesmer became renowned for treating nervous disorders and we still use his name today whenever we say we are ‘mesmerised’ by something. It wasn’t until the following century, however, that surgeons began to use hypnotism (coming from the Greek word for sleep) to relax patients during surgery. With modern anaesthetics, however, hypnotism has become associated with stage-show hypnotists entertaining an audience, swinging a pocket-watch in front of their victims and getting them to cluck like a chicken! Now, with the help of hypnotherapy, people are managing anxiety, losing weight, stopping snoring and overcoming many other addictions and conditions. In fact, up to 75% of people who have used hypnotherapy to stop smoking have been able to kick the habit. It has also helped people suffering from phobias, depression or panic attacks. So how exactly does it work? Scientists are not 100% sure. What they do know is that it creates a state of deep relaxation in which patients are more open to suggestions than when they are wide awake. Patients sometimes compare the experience to being totally absorbed in a good book or film. They are not cut off from the outside world, but they’re completely focused on the hypnotist’s voice. It’s at this point that he can suggest positive changes to thought patterns and habits. Hypnotherapy isn’t just for psychological problems, though. Amazingly, some hospitals are now using it alongside conventional medicine to reduce pain and speed up recovery. Burn victims, for instance, have benefited from pain relief after a session of hypnotherapy. One pensioner even had an operation which involved a surgeon sawing into her foot while under hypnosis! She says, “I said to myself that if I had any pain I should think of it as waves lashing against a sea wall. Every time it happened, I imagined the pain going away, like the tide.” While hypnotism isn’t a magic wand, it seems it may be able to treat countless conditions. Moreover, it is painless as well as risk-free, it has no side effects and it’s cheap. Many people, however, are still not willing to put their faith in a therapy that can’t be scientifically proven. Before trying hypnotherapy for myself, I did a little research and found out that although about 90% of people can be hypnotised, good hypnotherapy patients tend to be relaxed, imaginative, intelligent and easily absorbed by things. So what happened after my own hypnotherapy experience? Well, throughout it, I felt normal and could still hear the traffic outside, but when I ‘awoke’ after what I thought was about 20 minutes, I was surprised to learn that an hour had passed. I have to admit I’ve been sleeping better ever since. Not perfectly, but there has definitely been an improvement. It looks like hypnotherapy might work for me, but what about you? Could you be hypnotised?

✮ Read the text. According to the text, how long did Amy's hypnotherapy experience last? Choose the correct answer. Amy Logan’s insomnia was leading to a lot of restless nights. Taking a friend’s advice, she decided to pay a visit to a hypnotist. Here Amy looks at the medical benefits of hypnosis and is put into a deep, deep sleep ... . The lights are dim and the couch is comfortable; the hypnotist’s voice is monotonous, yet soothing. “Listen and relax, listen and relax,” he repeats over and over. My arms and legs and even my eyelids are feeling heavy. My breathing is slowing down, as though I’m falling into a deep sleep and then the hypnotist begins ... . There is evidence that the ancient Egyptians used hypnotism over 2,000 years ago, but hypnotherapy as we know it dates from the 18th century. Austrian physician Franz Mesmer became renowned for treating nervous disorders and we still use his name today whenever we say we are ‘mesmerised’ by something. It wasn’t until the following century, however, that surgeons began to use hypnotism (coming from the Greek word for sleep) to relax patients during surgery. With modern anaesthetics, however, hypnotism has become associated with stage-show hypnotists entertaining an audience, swinging a pocket-watch in front of their victims and getting them to cluck like a chicken! Now, with the help of hypnotherapy, people are managing anxiety, losing weight, stopping snoring and overcoming many other addictions and conditions. In fact, up to 75% of people who have used hypnotherapy to stop smoking have been able to kick the habit. It has also helped people suffering from phobias, depression or panic attacks. So how exactly does it work? Scientists are not 100% sure. What they do know is that it creates a state of deep relaxation in which patients are more open to suggestions than when they are wide awake. Patients sometimes compare the experience to being totally absorbed in a good book or film. They are not cut off from the outside world, but they’re completely focused on the hypnotist’s voice. It’s at this point that he can suggest positive changes to thought patterns and habits. Hypnotherapy isn’t just for psychological problems, though. Amazingly, some hospitals are now using it alongside conventional medicine to reduce pain and speed up recovery. Burn victims, for instance, have benefited from pain relief after a session of hypnotherapy. One pensioner even had an operation which involved a surgeon sawing into her foot while under hypnosis! She says, “I said to myself that if I had any pain I should think of it as waves lashing against a sea wall. Every time it happened, I imagined the pain going away, like the tide.” While hypnotism isn’t a magic wand, it seems it may be able to treat countless conditions. Moreover, it is painless as well as risk-free, it has no side effects and it’s cheap. Many people, however, are still not willing to put their faith in a therapy that can’t be scientifically proven. Before trying hypnotherapy for myself, I did a little research and found out that although about 90% of people can be hypnotised, good hypnotherapy patients tend to be relaxed, imaginative, intelligent and easily absorbed by things. So what happened after my own hypnotherapy experience? Well, throughout it, I felt normal and could still hear the traffic outside, but when I ‘awoke’ after what I thought was about 20 minutes, I was surprised to learn that an hour had passed. I have to admit I’ve been sleeping better ever since. Not perfectly, but there has definitely been an improvement. It looks like hypnotherapy might work for me, but what about you? Could you be hypnotised?

✮✮✮ Read the Introduction. Your teenage brother has some problems with insomnia and you want to help him cope with this problem. While getting ready for your school lesson you've come across the article on alternative therapies. It is about a woman called Amy Logan who also suffers from insomnia. Read the text. Do you think your brother should visit a hypnotist? Give reasons for and against trying a hypnotherapy. Amy Logan’s insomnia was leading to a lot of restless nights. Taking a friend’s advice, she decided to pay a visit to a hypnotist. Here Amy looks at the medical benefits of hypnosis and is put into a deep, deep sleep ... . The lights are dim and the couch is comfortable; the hypnotist’s voice is monotonous, yet soothing. “Listen and relax, listen and relax,” he repeats over and over. My arms and legs and even my eyelids are feeling heavy. My breathing is slowing down, as though I’m falling into a deep sleep and then the hypnotist begins ... . There is evidence that the ancient Egyptians used hypnotism over 2,000 years ago, but hypnotherapy as we know it dates from the 18th century. Austrian physician Franz Mesmer became renowned for treating nervous disorders and we still use his name today whenever we say we are ‘mesmerised’ by something. It wasn’t until the following century, however, that surgeons began to use hypnotism (coming from the Greek word for sleep) to relax patients during surgery. With modern anaesthetics, however, hypnotism has become associated with stage-show hypnotists entertaining an audience, swinging a pocket-watch in front of their victims and getting them to cluck like a chicken! Now, with the help of hypnotherapy, people are managing anxiety, losing weight, stopping snoring and overcoming many other addictions and conditions. In fact, up to 75% of people who have used hypnotherapy to stop smoking have been able to kick the habit. It has also helped people suffering from phobias, depression or panic attacks. So how exactly does it work? Scientists are not 100% sure. What they do know is that it creates a state of deep relaxation in which patients are more open to suggestions than when they are wide awake. Patients sometimes compare the experience to being totally absorbed in a good book or film. They are not cut off from the outside world, but they’re completely focused on the hypnotist’s voice. It’s at this point that he can suggest positive changes to thought patterns and habits. Hypnotherapy isn’t just for psychological problems, though. Amazingly, some hospitals are now using it alongside conventional medicine to reduce pain and speed up recovery. Burn victims, for instance, have benefited from pain relief after a session of hypnotherapy. One pensioner even had an operation which involved a surgeon sawing into her foot while under hypnosis! She says, “I said to myself that if I had any pain I should think of it as waves lashing against a sea wall. Every time it happened, I imagined the pain going away, like the tide.” While hypnotism isn’t a magic wand, it seems it may be able to treat countless conditions. Moreover, it is painless as well as risk-free, it has no side effects and it’s cheap. Many people, however, are still not willing to put their faith in a therapy that can’t be scientifically proven. Before trying hypnotherapy for myself, I did a little research and found out that although about 90% of people can be hypnotised, good hypnotherapy patients tend to be relaxed, imaginative, intelligent and easily absorbed by things. So what happened after my own hypnotherapy experience? Well, throughout it, I felt normal and could still hear the traffic outside, but when I ‘awoke’ after what I thought was about 20 minutes, I was surprised to learn that an hour had passed. I have to admit I’ve been sleeping better ever since. Not perfectly, but there has definitely been an improvement. It looks like hypnotherapy might work for me, but what about you? Could you be hypnotised?

✮✮ Read the text and complete the sentences.

✮ Read the text. Choose if the statement below is True, False or Not stated.

Read the text and choose the correct answers. Online Fame Surely blogging or vlogging must be one of the easiest ways of finding fame and fortune? All you need is a computer and a hobby to talk about, don’t you? Well, although it looks simple, being a success in the blogosphere is actually a lot more difficult than it seems. Kate Ross has been advising brands on how to work with bloggers and vloggers, and believes that if you start a blog or vlog just to earn money, it isn’t going to work. Kate says you need to be passionate about your topic and you need to provide your readers or viewers with interesting content. If you don’t, your vlog or blog isn’t going to get positive feedback and attract subscribers. You also need to be aware that cash isn’t going to come rolling in overnight. Seventeen-year-old Rosie Bea, who has a YouTube fashion channel, says her blog only started attracting the attention of advertisers after she had put in months and months of unpaid work and built up a big fan base. Rosie was also combining her vlog work with her law studies, and she advises vloggers in the same position to make sure that they plan carefully so that they have time to do both things properly. So, while the tabloid press often talks about the instant success of young bloggers and vloggers, it isn’t really instant at all. The people who are successful have done well because they are hard-working and passionate about what they do, and it is this dedication and passion that attracts subscribers and advertisers to them. The press is only interested in them once they are in the public eye, but they have achieved their celebrity status through hours and hours of hard work.

Read the text and mark the statements True (T), False (F) or Not Stated (NS). “Nettle and sphagnum moss soup?” asked Manuel. I gave him a vaguely affirmative prehistorical grunt and took a sip. It was almost edible . . . if you had no sense of smell and pretended that your taste buds hadn't evolved yet. I had another mouthful of boiled-up Spanish sedge and river silt. I coughed and spluttered and went 'Uggh!' Manuel smiled from beneath a thick, vivid green moustache. 'Spoken like a true Neanderthal!' Manuel Luque is a professional archaeologist and director of Paleorama, which offers the world's first fly-drive 'Stone Age' holidays. Modern “time travelers” can now enjoy prehistoric breaks in a riverside field near Burgos in northern Spain. They have to make their own meals and because it is illegal to hunt in Rioja, the menu is predominately vegetarian. But before you can cook your Palaeolithic lunch, you must make a fire. So for about half an hour I collected leaves and fallen fir needles before being shown, for another hour, how to light them by rubbing two twigs together. The dress code was relaxed. Fox has never been my favourite fabric. Deerskin has never suited me, either. So my host let me cover myself in modern leisurewear. 'Everything must be validated by archaeological data. That's why we don't insist on animal skins. No clothing has ever been found. We can only guess what our ancestors ate. 'This is hands-on archaeology,' he said, ladling the Pleistocene glop into a home-made animal hide bowl. 'I want people to relate to their ancestors, their lifestyles and their achievements. 'Far from being a beast, Palaeolithic man was innovative and highly adaptive to his environment. Stinging nettles were an important part of his staple diet. He made soup as well as soap out of them. 'Our breaks are all about learning about primitive technology and appreciating the ingenuity of our ancestors.' Guests at the five-day camps can visit the famous Palaeolithic remains at Atapuerca. You make your own accommodation - primitive tents for four - and your own bread out of crushed plant roots. There are also classes in beginners' cave painting. It takes three seconds to char the end of a branch for charcoal work but five days to make coloured paint from ochre. It takes years to be able to paint a really realistic aurochs. I stuck to stick people. ‘People have a low opinion on Neanderthals- they are very misunderstood’, Manuel told me, ‘but actually, they were a success story. Neanderthal man survived for 270,000 years. Civilised man has been around for only 7,000. This is my attempt to make a subject which I am so passionate about more popular’, he said. 'When they leave they realise nature is full of resources. They see their forefathers in a new and admirable light. Not as dirty, smelly, ugly cretins. They learn to respect their specialist skills.' He looked at my handiwork. 'That's not a bad shoe,' he said. I stared at him incredulously. 'Actually it's a soup bowl.'

Read the text and choose the best title. Bright sparks It isn’t just old professors or managing directors with years of experience behind them who have amazing ideas. Here are three ordinary people who are rocking the world with their bright ideas ... and a lot of hard work! Angela Zhang scientist, California, USA Angela Zhang had enjoyed reading advanced science papers from a young age. But when she explained to her chemistry teacher that she had been working on a method for curing cancer, her teacher was stunned! Angela had had the idea of developing a nanoparticle that would deliver drugs to tumours without destroying the surrounding tissue. She asked if she could do research on her idea in a laboratory at Stanford University. Angela admitted that she found it all a little bit overwhelming at first. “But then I found that it almost became like a puzzle, being able to decode something," she added. The results of tests on her discovery have been very promising. Emily Cummins inventor, England Emily Cummins had loved making things from scrap materials ever since her grandfather gave her a hammer when she was only 4 years old. Then, one day, Emily came up with a simple, yet brilliant idea. She designed a portable, eco-friendly fridge that had the potential to help thousands of people in the developing world. ‘'The simplest method of cooling something can be seen when you look at how we cool biologically – through sweating or evaporation," Emily said. So her fridge is made of 2 cylinders, one inside the other. As water between the cylinders evaporates in the sun, heat is removed from the inner cylinder, enabling food to be kept inside at a cool 6 °C. Emily took her design to poor areas of Africa, where people called her ‘the fridge lady’! Now Emily gives talks encouraging young people to follow their dreams. Derreck Kayongo community project leader, Uganda Has it ever crossed your mind how wasteful it is to use a bar of soap in a hotel only a few times? Well, while staying in a hotel in the USA, Ugandan Derreck Kayongo was very shocked to be told that guests were given new soap every day while 2 million young children were dying every year through lack of hygiene in the developing world. This got him thinking. He wondered if he could recycle the soap for people who needed it. So, in 2009, Derreck started asking hotels if they could donate their used bars of soap that would be otherwise put in the bin. “We sanitise them first,” he explained, “then heat them at very high temperatures, chill them and cut them into final bars, it’s a very simple process, but a lot of hard work." So far, Derreck’s "Global Soap Project" has provided more than 100,000 bars of soap to 9 countries absolutely free!

Read the text and choose whether the statements are true or false. Bright sparks It isn’t just old professors or managing directors with years of experience behind them who have amazing ideas. Here are three ordinary people who are rocking the world with their bright ideas ... and a lot of hard work! Angela Zhang scientist, California, USA Angela Zhang had enjoyed reading advanced science papers from a young age. But when she explained to her chemistry teacher that she had been working on a method for curing cancer, her teacher was stunned! Angela had had the idea of developing a nanoparticle that would deliver drugs to tumours without destroying the surrounding tissue. She asked if she could do research on her idea in a laboratory at Stanford University. Angela admitted that she found it all a little bit overwhelming at first. “But then I found that it almost became like a puzzle, being able to decode something," she added. The results of tests on her discovery have been very promising. Emily Cummins inventor, England Emily Cummins had loved making things from scrap materials ever since her grandfather gave her a hammer when she was only 4 years old. Then, one day, Emily came up with a simple, yet brilliant idea. She designed a portable, eco-friendly fridge that had the potential to help thousands of people in the developing world. ‘'The simplest method of cooling something can be seen when you look at how we cool biologically – through sweating or evaporation," Emily said. So her fridge is made of 2 cylinders, one inside the other. As water between the cylinders evaporates in the sun, heat is removed from the inner cylinder, enabling food to be kept inside at a cool 6 °C. Emily took her design to poor areas of Africa, where people called her ‘the fridge lady’! Now Emily gives talks encouraging young people to follow their dreams. Derreck Kayongo community project leader, Uganda Has it ever crossed your mind how wasteful it is to use a bar of soap in a hotel only a few times? Well, while staying in a hotel in the USA, Ugandan Derreck Kayongo was very shocked to be told that guests were given new soap every day while 2 million young children were dying every year through lack of hygiene in the developing world. This got him thinking. He wondered if he could recycle the soap for people who needed it. So, in 2009, Derreck started asking hotels if they could donate their used bars of soap that would be otherwise put in the bin. “We sanitise them first,” he explained, “then heat them at very high temperatures, chill them and cut them into final bars, it’s a very simple process, but a lot of hard work." So far, Derreck’s "Global Soap Project" has provided more than 100,000 bars of soap to 9 countries absolutely free!

Read the text and choose the correct items. Start of college life: how I coped with fear For the last two years I’ve been working really hard to pass all my exams successfully and to get accepted to college. And yet college seemed to be the scariest thing that I could think of. Whenever I thought about it, my stomach would immediately begin to spin in circles. Although I was ready to go off and be by myself and meet new people, I was scared to death at the same time. I pictured hard classes that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with, people that wouldn’t like me, long hikes to get to my classes, and horrible food. I couldn’t imagine leaving the security of my own room, my own stuff where I want it, my friends that I’ve spent practically my whole life with my family who put up with all my little quirks. Everyone else that I talked to, however, didn’t seem to have this problem. They all were thrilled at the thought of being on their own and not having to worry about their parents telling them what to do or not to do all the time. And, sure, the thought was extremely exciting to me as well, but how would I survive without my family and friends and the things that had taken me eighteen years to get used to? The summer before I came to college was probably the most fun my friends and I ever had. We all knew that in September things would never be the same again and we had to make the most of it while we still could. As the end of August rolled around, we knew that it was time to say goodbye and be on our way to our own independence. I packed up the memories of the last eighteen years of my life into about five suitcases and was ready to go. I still didn’t feel like I was just as mature as my older college friends, and I thought that I still looked like I was twelve years old. We finally made it to the doors and began unloading my clothes and the eight million bags of food that my mom had packed for me. I still was unsure about sharing my room and not being able to have the privacy that I had back home. I was worried that the little habits that I had might annoy my roommate and that my roommate might have just as many annoying little habits that I might not be able to handle as well. After I had all my things unpacked and put exactly where I wanted, my roommate and I decided to go around our hall and see whom we would be living with for the next two semesters. As we went around to different rooms and met different people my nervousness seemed to diminish. I began to realize that not everyone here knew everyone else, and most were just as anxious and nervous about being here as I was. It worked. I started to feel better and was actually kind of excited about living here all by myself. I still miss the security of living at home (and I wonder who would blame me for this feeling) and, most of all, home-cooked meals that are nonexistent here and the friends that I grew up with. But I know that we’ve all changed, and those memories are just that – memories, no matter how pleasant they might be. And when times get too tough, my mom is just a phone call away. But I’m not too quick to call her and have her solve my problems. I’ve learned that I can usually work things out by myself. I’m glad that I’ve gone through these changes in myself, and it makes me realize that I don’t need to fear change, that it’s just a part of life that everyone has to go through sometime.

Read the text and choose the correct option. A cat’s adventures When we first got our cat Gina, I thought taking care other would be a rather leisurely activity. But Gina has the most peculiar of behaviours, and I’m not just referring to her tendency to chase after the occasional trapped house fly or her love of licking drips from the sink tap. She does something that I imagine few other cats in the world would do. If you can believe this, she commutes by bus every single day to the zoo to gaze at wild animals. Gina’s story is so incredible she’s even been featured on the national TV news. She’s been filmed hopping onto the bus, which comes like clockwork every day to the stop two blocks down the street from our house. It doesn’t even pass by our house; I can’t imagine how she found the stop. Actually, there are many things I can’t imagine about this scenario, such as how she knows the bus schedule or where the stop for the zoo is. Were never even taken her to the zoo. Why on earth would we? And surely we would have gone by car rather than by bus if we had. It’s anyone’s guess how long she had been doing it before we realised what was going on. She’d scratch at the door in the morning for us to let her out. I would see her trot out of the garden and down the street, but I never thought anything of it. After a while, I began to notice that she’d be gone for several hours, but would always return at 4 pm, hungry. I started to suspect something when it occurred to me that she was leaving the house at exactly the same time every day. I decided to investigate this odd routine. One day I waited until she was just out of sight. I snuck out of the house, careful not to make any noise to disturb her. I left the property from the same place as she did. I spotted her a block down, her tail fluffing up in the air as she looked both ways before crossing to the next block. ‘We teach our kids that, not our cats!’ I thought to myself. At any rate, when she got a bit further ahead, I saw her arrive at the bus stop. I stood very still, not taking my eyes off her for a second. Then the bus came, the doors opened, and she just jumped right in. I couldn’t believe it! Standing there dumbfounded, I realised something that made my eyes widen and my eyebrows rise - there were no passengers waiting at the stop. Why did the bus even stop? So, in my distressed state, my knee-jerk reaction was to, well, run after the bus! I ran like an Olympic sprinter, and luckily there was little traffic at the junctions. I finally caught up with the bus at a red light. I banged on the door, the driver opened it and there was Gina, perched on the dashboard. She saw me and miaowed. ‘My cat! I shrieked. ‘How is this possible?’ The driver said she had been doing it for months, getting off at the zoo, and getting back on later in the day. I grabbed her, took her home and apologised for my frantic behaviour, but the next day she was off again, so I decided to pay a visit to the zoo, to see just exactly what she was getting up to on the next stage of her daily adventure... 1. The author originally thought that cats_______.

Read the text and choose the correct option. A cat’s adventures When we first got our cat Gina, I thought taking care other would be a rather leisurely activity. But Gina has the most peculiar of behaviours, and I’m not just referring to her tendency to chase after the occasional trapped house fly or her love of licking drips from the sink tap. She does something that I imagine few other cats in the world would do. If you can believe this, she commutes by bus every single day to the zoo to gaze at wild animals. Gina’s story is so incredible she’s even been featured on the national TV news. She’s been filmed hopping onto the bus, which comes like clockwork every day to the stop two blocks down the street from our house. It doesn’t even pass by our house; I can’t imagine how she found the stop. Actually, there are many things I can’t imagine about this scenario, such as how she knows the bus schedule or where the stop for the zoo is. Were never even taken her to the zoo. Why on earth would we? And surely we would have gone by car rather than by bus if we had. It’s anyone’s guess how long she had been doing it before we realised what was going on. She’d scratch at the door in the morning for us to let her out. I would see her trot out of the garden and down the street, but I never thought anything of it. After a while, I began to notice that she’d be gone for several hours, but would always return at 4 pm, hungry. I started to suspect something when it occurred to me that she was leaving the house at exactly the same time every day. I decided to investigate this odd routine. One day I waited until she was just out of sight. I snuck out of the house, careful not to make any noise to disturb her. I left the property from the same place as she did. I spotted her a block down, her tail fluffing up in the air as she looked both ways before crossing to the next block. ‘We teach our kids that, not our cats!’ I thought to myself. At any rate, when she got a bit further ahead, I saw her arrive at the bus stop. I stood very still, not taking my eyes off her for a second. Then the bus came, the doors opened, and she just jumped right in. I couldn’t believe it! Standing there dumbfounded, I realised something that made my eyes widen and my eyebrows rise - there were no passengers waiting at the stop. Why did the bus even stop? So, in my distressed state, my knee-jerk reaction was to, well, run after the bus! I ran like an Olympic sprinter, and luckily there was little traffic at the junctions. I finally caught up with the bus at a red light. I banged on the door, the driver opened it and there was Gina, perched on the dashboard. She saw me and miaowed. ‘My cat! I shrieked. ‘How is this possible?’ The driver said she had been doing it for months, getting off at the zoo, and getting back on later in the day. I grabbed her, took her home and apologised for my frantic behaviour, but the next day she was off again, so I decided to pay a visit to the zoo, to see just exactly what she was getting up to on the next stage of her daily adventure... 2. Which of the following is true about Gina’s zoo trips?

Read the text and choose the correct option. A cat’s adventures When we first got our cat Gina, I thought taking care other would be a rather leisurely activity. But Gina has the most peculiar of behaviours, and I’m not just referring to her tendency to chase after the occasional trapped house fly or her love of licking drips from the sink tap. She does something that I imagine few other cats in the world would do. If you can believe this, she commutes by bus every single day to the zoo to gaze at wild animals. Gina’s story is so incredible she’s even been featured on the national TV news. She’s been filmed hopping onto the bus, which comes like clockwork every day to the stop two blocks down the street from our house. It doesn’t even pass by our house; I can’t imagine how she found the stop. Actually, there are many things I can’t imagine about this scenario, such as how she knows the bus schedule or where the stop for the zoo is. Were never even taken her to the zoo. Why on earth would we? And surely we would have gone by car rather than by bus if we had. It’s anyone’s guess how long she had been doing it before we realised what was going on. She’d scratch at the door in the morning for us to let her out. I would see her trot out of the garden and down the street, but I never thought anything of it. After a while, I began to notice that she’d be gone for several hours, but would always return at 4 pm, hungry. I started to suspect something when it occurred to me that she was leaving the house at exactly the same time every day. I decided to investigate this odd routine. One day I waited until she was just out of sight. I snuck out of the house, careful not to make any noise to disturb her. I left the property from the same place as she did. I spotted her a block down, her tail fluffing up in the air as she looked both ways before crossing to the next block. ‘We teach our kids that, not our cats!’ I thought to myself. At any rate, when she got a bit further ahead, I saw her arrive at the bus stop. I stood very still, not taking my eyes off her for a second. Then the bus came, the doors opened, and she just jumped right in. I couldn’t believe it! Standing there dumbfounded, I realised something that made my eyes widen and my eyebrows rise - there were no passengers waiting at the stop. Why did the bus even stop? So, in my distressed state, my knee-jerk reaction was to, well, run after the bus! I ran like an Olympic sprinter, and luckily there was little traffic at the junctions. I finally caught up with the bus at a red light. I banged on the door, the driver opened it and there was Gina, perched on the dashboard. She saw me and miaowed. ‘My cat! I shrieked. ‘How is this possible?’ The driver said she had been doing it for months, getting off at the zoo, and getting back on later in the day. I grabbed her, took her home and apologised for my frantic behaviour, but the next day she was off again, so I decided to pay a visit to the zoo, to see just exactly what she was getting up to on the next stage of her daily adventure... 3. The author realised there was something funny about Gina when...

Read the text and choose the correct option. A cat’s adventures When we first got our cat Gina, I thought taking care other would be a rather leisurely activity. But Gina has the most peculiar of behaviours, and I’m not just referring to her tendency to chase after the occasional trapped house fly or her love of licking drips from the sink tap. She does something that I imagine few other cats in the world would do. If you can believe this, she commutes by bus every single day to the zoo to gaze at wild animals. Gina’s story is so incredible she’s even been featured on the national TV news. She’s been filmed hopping onto the bus, which comes like clockwork every day to the stop two blocks down the street from our house. It doesn’t even pass by our house; I can’t imagine how she found the stop. Actually, there are many things I can’t imagine about this scenario, such as how she knows the bus schedule or where the stop for the zoo is. Were never even taken her to the zoo. Why on earth would we? And surely we would have gone by car rather than by bus if we had. It’s anyone’s guess how long she had been doing it before we realised what was going on. She’d scratch at the door in the morning for us to let her out. I would see her trot out of the garden and down the street, but I never thought anything of it. After a while, I began to notice that she’d be gone for several hours, but would always return at 4 pm, hungry. I started to suspect something when it occurred to me that she was leaving the house at exactly the same time every day. I decided to investigate this odd routine. One day I waited until she was just out of sight. I snuck out of the house, careful not to make any noise to disturb her. I left the property from the same place as she did. I spotted her a block down, her tail fluffing up in the air as she looked both ways before crossing to the next block. ‘We teach our kids that, not our cats!’ I thought to myself. At any rate, when she got a bit further ahead, I saw her arrive at the bus stop. I stood very still, not taking my eyes off her for a second. Then the bus came, the doors opened, and she just jumped right in. I couldn’t believe it! Standing there dumbfounded, I realised something that made my eyes widen and my eyebrows rise - there were no passengers waiting at the stop. Why did the bus even stop? So, in my distressed state, my knee-jerk reaction was to, well, run after the bus! I ran like an Olympic sprinter, and luckily there was little traffic at the junctions. I finally caught up with the bus at a red light. I banged on the door, the driver opened it and there was Gina, perched on the dashboard. She saw me and miaowed. ‘My cat! I shrieked. ‘How is this possible?’ The driver said she had been doing it for months, getting off at the zoo, and getting back on later in the day. I grabbed her, took her home and apologised for my frantic behaviour, but the next day she was off again, so I decided to pay a visit to the zoo, to see just exactly what she was getting up to on the next stage of her daily adventure... 4. How did the author follow her cat to the bus stop?

Read the text and choose the correct option. A cat’s adventures When we first got our cat Gina, I thought taking care other would be a rather leisurely activity. But Gina has the most peculiar of behaviours, and I’m not just referring to her tendency to chase after the occasional trapped house fly or her love of licking drips from the sink tap. She does something that I imagine few other cats in the world would do. If you can believe this, she commutes by bus every single day to the zoo to gaze at wild animals. Gina’s story is so incredible she’s even been featured on the national TV news. She’s been filmed hopping onto the bus, which comes like clockwork every day to the stop two blocks down the street from our house. It doesn’t even pass by our house; I can’t imagine how she found the stop. Actually, there are many things I can’t imagine about this scenario, such as how she knows the bus schedule or where the stop for the zoo is. Were never even taken her to the zoo. Why on earth would we? And surely we would have gone by car rather than by bus if we had. It’s anyone’s guess how long she had been doing it before we realised what was going on. She’d scratch at the door in the morning for us to let her out. I would see her trot out of the garden and down the street, but I never thought anything of it. After a while, I began to notice that she’d be gone for several hours, but would always return at 4 pm, hungry. I started to suspect something when it occurred to me that she was leaving the house at exactly the same time every day. I decided to investigate this odd routine. One day I waited until she was just out of sight. I snuck out of the house, careful not to make any noise to disturb her. I left the property from the same place as she did. I spotted her a block down, her tail fluffing up in the air as she looked both ways before crossing to the next block. ‘We teach our kids that, not our cats!’ I thought to myself. At any rate, when she got a bit further ahead, I saw her arrive at the bus stop. I stood very still, not taking my eyes off her for a second. Then the bus came, the doors opened, and she just jumped right in. I couldn’t believe it! Standing there dumbfounded, I realised something that made my eyes widen and my eyebrows rise - there were no passengers waiting at the stop. Why did the bus even stop? So, in my distressed state, my knee-jerk reaction was to, well, run after the bus! I ran like an Olympic sprinter, and luckily there was little traffic at the junctions. I finally caught up with the bus at a red light. I banged on the door, the driver opened it and there was Gina, perched on the dashboard. She saw me and miaowed. ‘My cat! I shrieked. ‘How is this possible?’ The driver said she had been doing it for months, getting off at the zoo, and getting back on later in the day. I grabbed her, took her home and apologised for my frantic behaviour, but the next day she was off again, so I decided to pay a visit to the zoo, to see just exactly what she was getting up to on the next stage of her daily adventure... 5. The author’s face showed the greatest reaction when...

Read the text and choose the correct option. A cat’s adventures When we first got our cat Gina, I thought taking care other would be a rather leisurely activity. But Gina has the most peculiar of behaviours, and I’m not just referring to her tendency to chase after the occasional trapped house fly or her love of licking drips from the sink tap. She does something that I imagine few other cats in the world would do. If you can believe this, she commutes by bus every single day to the zoo to gaze at wild animals. Gina’s story is so incredible she’s even been featured on the national TV news. She’s been filmed hopping onto the bus, which comes like clockwork every day to the stop two blocks down the street from our house. It doesn’t even pass by our house; I can’t imagine how she found the stop. Actually, there are many things I can’t imagine about this scenario, such as how she knows the bus schedule or where the stop for the zoo is. Were never even taken her to the zoo. Why on earth would we? And surely we would have gone by car rather than by bus if we had. It’s anyone’s guess how long she had been doing it before we realised what was going on. She’d scratch at the door in the morning for us to let her out. I would see her trot out of the garden and down the street, but I never thought anything of it. After a while, I began to notice that she’d be gone for several hours, but would always return at 4 pm, hungry. I started to suspect something when it occurred to me that she was leaving the house at exactly the same time every day. I decided to investigate this odd routine. One day I waited until she was just out of sight. I snuck out of the house, careful not to make any noise to disturb her. I left the property from the same place as she did. I spotted her a block down, her tail fluffing up in the air as she looked both ways before crossing to the next block. ‘We teach our kids that, not our cats!’ I thought to myself. At any rate, when she got a bit further ahead, I saw her arrive at the bus stop. I stood very still, not taking my eyes off her for a second. Then the bus came, the doors opened, and she just jumped right in. I couldn’t believe it! Standing there dumbfounded, I realised something that made my eyes widen and my eyebrows rise - there were no passengers waiting at the stop. Why did the bus even stop? So, in my distressed state, my knee-jerk reaction was to, well, run after the bus! I ran like an Olympic sprinter, and luckily there was little traffic at the junctions. I finally caught up with the bus at a red light. I banged on the door, the driver opened it and there was Gina, perched on the dashboard. She saw me and miaowed. ‘My cat! I shrieked. ‘How is this possible?’ The driver said she had been doing it for months, getting off at the zoo, and getting back on later in the day. I grabbed her, took her home and apologised for my frantic behaviour, but the next day she was off again, so I decided to pay a visit to the zoo, to see just exactly what she was getting up to on the next stage of her daily adventure... 6. What does the expression ‘knee-jerk reaction’ in the fifth paragraph mean?

Read the text and choose the correct option. A cat’s adventures When we first got our cat Gina, I thought taking care other would be a rather leisurely activity. But Gina has the most peculiar of behaviours, and I’m not just referring to her tendency to chase after the occasional trapped house fly or her love of licking drips from the sink tap. She does something that I imagine few other cats in the world would do. If you can believe this, she commutes by bus every single day to the zoo to gaze at wild animals. Gina’s story is so incredible she’s even been featured on the national TV news. She’s been filmed hopping onto the bus, which comes like clockwork every day to the stop two blocks down the street from our house. It doesn’t even pass by our house; I can’t imagine how she found the stop. Actually, there are many things I can’t imagine about this scenario, such as how she knows the bus schedule or where the stop for the zoo is. Were never even taken her to the zoo. Why on earth would we? And surely we would have gone by car rather than by bus if we had. It’s anyone’s guess how long she had been doing it before we realised what was going on. She’d scratch at the door in the morning for us to let her out. I would see her trot out of the garden and down the street, but I never thought anything of it. After a while, I began to notice that she’d be gone for several hours, but would always return at 4 pm, hungry. I started to suspect something when it occurred to me that she was leaving the house at exactly the same time every day. I decided to investigate this odd routine. One day I waited until she was just out of sight. I snuck out of the house, careful not to make any noise to disturb her. I left the property from the same place as she did. I spotted her a block down, her tail fluffing up in the air as she looked both ways before crossing to the next block. ‘We teach our kids that, not our cats!’ I thought to myself. At any rate, when she got a bit further ahead, I saw her arrive at the bus stop. I stood very still, not taking my eyes off her for a second. Then the bus came, the doors opened, and she just jumped right in. I couldn’t believe it! Standing there dumbfounded, I realised something that made my eyes widen and my eyebrows rise - there were no passengers waiting at the stop. Why did the bus even stop? So, in my distressed state, my knee-jerk reaction was to, well, run after the bus! I ran like an Olympic sprinter, and luckily there was little traffic at the junctions. I finally caught up with the bus at a red light. I banged on the door, the driver opened it and there was Gina, perched on the dashboard. She saw me and miaowed. ‘My cat! I shrieked. ‘How is this possible?’ The driver said she had been doing it for months, getting off at the zoo, and getting back on later in the day. I grabbed her, took her home and apologised for my frantic behaviour, but the next day she was off again, so I decided to pay a visit to the zoo, to see just exactly what she was getting up to on the next stage of her daily adventure... 7. ‘This’ in the last paragraph refers to...