Cat CDZ

Choose the correct answer. Which auxiliary verb is used to form interrogative sentences in the Past Simple?

Choose the correct answer. Which auxiliary verbs are used to form negative sentences in the Past Continuous?

Choose the correct answer. Which tense is used to describe an action that happened in the past and was interrupted by another action?

Choose the correct answer. Which tense is used to describe two or more simultaneous actions that took place in development in the past?

Choose the correct answer. Which tense is used to describe successive actions in the past?

Choose the correct answer. Which tense is used to describe the atmosphere, setting, and also in the introduction to the story?

Choose the correct answers. Which time markers are used in the Past Continuous?

Choose the correct answers. Which time markers are used in the Past Simple?

Put the verb in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous. Choose the correct answer. I ____________ (play) with my son when you ____________ (call).

Put the verb in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous. Choose the correct answer. Anna ___________ (come) home, _____________ (switch) on the computer and __________ (check) her emails.

Put the verb in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous. Choose the correct answer. While Jack _____________ (take) a shower, his dog ______________ (sleep) behind the armchair.

Put the verb in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous. Choose the correct answer. When I ____________ (wake up) that morning, the wind _____________ (blow).

Put the verb in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous. Choose the correct answer. When it ____________ (start) raining, I ___________ (walk) on the beach.

Put the verb in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous. Choose the correct answer. At 9 yesterday Sasha ____________ (read) while Olya ____________ (shop).

Put the verb in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous. Choose the correct answer. I ___________ (tidy) my room all day long.

Put the verb in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous. Choose the correct answer. I _____________ (drive) my new car when I ___________ (hear) the news.

Put the verb in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous. Choose the correct answer. John ____________ (drive) to work. It ____________ (rain) heavily.

Put the verb in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous. Choose the correct answer. I ____________ (sit) in a cafe when you ___________ (call).

Advanced level Read the text and choose the correct options according to the text. The Role and Influence of Mass Media Mass media is communication – whether written, broadcast, or spoken – that reaches a large audience. This includes television, radio, advertising, movies, the Internet, newspapers, magazines, and so forth. Mass media is a significant force in modern culture. Sociologists refer to this as a mediated culture, where media reflects and creates the culture. Communities and individuals are bombarded constantly with messages from a multitude of sources including TV, billboards, and magazines, to name a few. These messages promote not only products, but moods, attitudes, and a sense of what is and is not important. Mass media makes possible the concept of celebrity: without the ability of movies, magazines, and news media to reach across thousands of miles, people could not become famous. In fact, only political and business leaders, as well as the few notorious outlaws, were famous in the past. Only in recent times have actors, singers, and other social elites become celebrities or “stars.” The current level of media saturation has not always existed. As recently as the 1960s and 1970s, television, for example, consisted of primarily three networks, public broadcasting, and a few local independent stations. These channels aimed their programming primarily at two‐parent, middle‐class families. Even so, some middle‐class households did not even own a television. Today, one can find a television in the poorest of homes, and multiple TVs in most middle‐class homes. Not only has availability increased, but programming is increasingly diverse with shows aimed to please all ages, incomes, backgrounds, and attitudes. This widespread availability and exposure makes television the primary focus of most mass‐media discussions. More recently, the Internet has increased its role exponentially as more businesses and households “sign on”. Although TV and the Internet have dominated the mass media, movies and magazines – particularly those lining the aisles at grocery checkout stands – also play a powerful role in culture, as do other forms of media. What role does mass media play? Legislatures, media executives, local school officials, and sociologists have all debated this controversial question. While opinions vary as to the extent and type of influence the mass media wields, all sides agree that mass media is a permanent part of modern culture.

Advanced level Read the text and choose the correct option. Work–life Balance Ronan I work in a fairly traditional office environment doing a typical nine-to-five job. I like my job, but it’s annoying that my commute to work takes an hour and a half each way and most of my work could really be done online from home. But my boss doesn’t seem to trust that we will get any work done if left to our own devices, and everyone in the company has to clock in and out every day. It’s frustrating that they feel the need to monitor what we do so closely instead of judging us based on our task performance, like most companies do these days. Jo I used to do a typical five-day week, but after I came out of my maternity leave, I decided that I wanted to spend more time with my children before they start school. After negotiating with my boss, we decided to cut my working week down to a three-day work week. This of course meant a significant cut in my pay too, as I’m paid on a pro rata basis. I’ve since noticed, though, that my workload hasn’t decreased in the slightest! I’m now doing five days’ worth of work in three days, but getting paid much less for it! I find myself having to take work home just so that I can meet the deadlines. It’s wearing me out trying to juggle work with looking after my children and my family, but I don’t dare to bring this up with my boss because I think he feels as if he’s made a huge concession letting me come in only three days a week. Marcus I work for a global IT company, but because their headquarters is in the States, I do all my work online from home. That means that I don’t waste time commuting or making idle chit-chat with colleagues. I work on a project basis, and this flexibility is very valuable to me because it means that I can easily take some time off when my children need me to go to their school performances or if I need to schedule an appointment with the dentist. The downside is that without clear office hours, I tend to work well into the evening, sometimes skipping dinner to finish a task. It can also get quite lonely working on my own, and I sometimes miss sharing ideas with colleagues. Lily I’m a freelancer and work for myself. This is great because I am in control of what I do and how I spend my time. At first, I was working from home, but I found it really hard to concentrate. There were just too many distractions around: housework that needed doing, another cup of tea, my family members wanting my attention for various things. So I started to go to a nearby café to work, but the Wi-Fi connection wasn’t ideal and I found myself drinking too much coffee. In the end, I decided to rent a desk in a co-working space with five other freelancers like myself. I liked getting dressed to go to work in the morning and being able to focus in an office environment. The other freelancers do similar kinds of web-based work to me and so it’s nice to have workmates to bounce ideas off as well.

Advanced level Read the text and choose the correct option. When I Grow Up When I was in kindergarten, my class was asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Colorful crayons danced across sheets of paper to illustrate our dream occupations and cherished jobs. Our drawings were hung in the school hallway for our parents to see at Back to School Night. I remember looking down the line and seeing pictures of pretty ballerinas dancing, brave firefighters putting out a blaze, and fearless astronauts leaping across the moon – admirable careers that were seen as typical dreams of five-year-old kids. My picture showed a stick figure with brown disheveled hair holding a carton of orange juice over a large rectangle that was supposed to be a counter. Underneath was my barely legible handwriting: “When I grow up, I want to work at the Market Basket because it would be fun to swipe orange juice across the scanner and talk to customers.” To this day my parents won’t let me forget that out of everything I could have aspired to be, my five-year-old self wished to work at the local grocery store. When we are young, questions of what we want to be when we grow up are common. Yet we are not expected to respond with an answer that is likely to come true. However, when we become teenagers, we are asked the very same question twice as often. The difference is, now we are supposed to answer with confidence. Teenagers are expected to know exactly what they want to be and how they are going to achieve that goal. Not all of us can be so sure at this age. Even though I am in high school, I cannot answer convincingly. But I don’t consider that a bad thing. How am I supposed to know what I will want to spend my time doing at the age of thirty or forty? When I think about the future, I definitely don’t see myself working at the counter of the Market Basket, but in reality, if that was what would make me happy, I would do it. So, the next time someone asks me what I want to be when I grow up, I will simply say, “I want to be happy.” And it is hope that drives us in this direction. “Hope is not a grain of sand,” the Gambian poet, Lenrie Peters, echoes, but no matter how tiny it is, it would still be sufficient to keep the youth alive and sane in most extreme circumstances. It is hope that spurs the youth on, to be up and doing. It is hope that keeps the youth going no matter how hard it is. Nelson Mandela as a youth hoped against all hope for the liberation of his people and he actually lived to see his hope being fulfilled. Robinson Crusoe, cast away on an uninhabited island, hoped against all hope for survival and this propelled him to start from scratch and build a compound and large farm single-handedly. Far away in “Another Country: the Land of Literature,” Sister Eileen Sweeney sums up through her writings that Hope is the anchor that keeps “the ship” called “youth” steadfastly held together no matter the high and stormy sea of passion, pain, distress or tribulation that batter against it. Happiness is a destination for everyone. We may want to walk different paths in life, narrow or wide, crooked or straight, but we all want to be happy wherever we end up. Choose your path, but don’t worry too much about choosing wisely. Make a mistake or two and try new things. But always remember, if you’re not happy, you’re not at the end of your journey yet.

Advanced level Read the text and then choose the correct option. Addicted to shopping Almost all of us get some kind of pleasure from shopping. We might feel good about going out to buy something for someone we love, or we might want to reward ourselves after a week of hard work. For some people, though, shopping becomes a problem. They feel a strong need to buy and often spend large amounts of money on things on sale they don't need, or even possibly that they already have. Finding the money to go shopping can even get them in trouble with the law. These people are addicted to shopping. Some experts believe that events in your childhood can cause shopping addiction. As children, it's very important to all of us that we feel important to our parents and that we are free to express our emotions. When we don't have that, we often look for other ways to make ourselves feel better. Shopping addicts usually get a powerful feeling of comfort and satisfaction at the moment they hand the money over. In general, though, the enjoyment has disappeared by the time they get home from a trip. They might feel bad about wasting money and hide the things they've bought, or even destroy them. Serious financial problems are often the result of shopping addiction. Very few of us can afford to spend money on things we don't need and it's not long before the credit card bills start to get out of control. Some addicts may even steal to make sure they can afford the next shopping trip. It's not easy to get over shopping addiction. It seems that the best treatment involves finding the real reason behind the behaviour, such as childhood memories or difficulties in your present life. Once you understand the cause, then you can deal with it differently. For example, if the shopping addiction comes from feeling unimportant, you need to find other ways of making yourself feel good, such as learning a new skill or helping other people in some way. Many shopping addicts manage to rebuild their lives, but it's not always easy, and the shops are still just a short bus ride away.

Advanced level Read the text and choose the correct words to fill in the gaps.

Advanced level Read the text and choose the correct option.

Advanced level Read the text and choose the correct options.

Advanced level Read the text and choose the correct options. The environment has been polluted in many different ways. The major ways are water, land and air pollution.                 Water pollution is the contamination of lakes, rivers, seas and oceans caused by human activities. It can be harmful to organisms and plants which live in the water. Water pollution occurs when wastes are discharged from waste water treatment plants. Other known causes are factory wastes or leaking underground tanks. These can be chemical substances that are toxic. The polluted water can cause cholera and typhoid fever. Water pollution has led to the deaths of more than 14,000 people daily.                Land pollution is the destruction of the earth’s land surfaces. It is often caused by human activities such as careless disposal of wastes, over-mining of minerals and wrong use of land for planting. All these will affect our health in the long run. They will lead to all kinds of diseases such as cancer, heart disease and breathing problems. Land pollution also brings about natural disasters such as flash floods and landslides.                Air pollution is also the result of human activity where chemicals and other dangerous materials are released into the air. This happens through the release of carbon monoxide gas from exhaust pipes of motor vehicles. Other gases such as sulphur oxides are released from the burning of coal and oil. High air pollution levels can cause damage to the environment. It also brings discomfort to humans and other living organisms. In the long term, air pollution can cause serious breathing problems, lung cancer and heart disease.

Advanced level Read the article, then choose the correct answer (А, В, С or D) for questions 1–7. Hope for the Future of Pandas Giant pandas, found only in China, are one of the world's most endangered species. There are only about 1600 left in the wild and another 200 in captivity. The female panda has an average of only about 7 cubs (baby pandas) in her lifetime. This is why it is extremely important that we protect these beautiful animals. In April 2006, a four-year-old male panda called Xiang Xiang was released into the wild. He was the first panda born in captivity to be set free. This was more than 40 years after the birth of the first giant panda in captivity. Xiang Xiang, whose name means 'lucky', has a radio collar, so scientists can follow his movements. When released, he barked like an angry dog and ran towards photographers before heading into the forest! Xiang Xiang began training to be a wild panda from the age of two. He was raised at the Panda Centre in the Wolong Nature Reserve where more than a hundred pandas live (more than half of the pandas in captivity!). Xiang Xiang's habitat training began in a five acre open space. He later went to a much larger area that was more like a natural panda habitat. There, Xiang Xiang learned to build a place to live and to eat bamboo. He started to become aggressive towards humans and make noises like a wild panda. Also, his health improved and he began to have more energy. The area around the Wolong Nature Reserve is the largest giant panda habitat in the world. Scientists will work out how many more pandas can live in this area, then they will release that number into the wild. Xiang Xiang was released into the western end of the Wolong Nature Reserve. There, he may meet other pandas. However, will they befriend him or not? If they do, then in the future pandas will be released in eight or ten different locations. The plan is to double the number of pandas in the wild by releasing around 15 each year. Conservationalists hope many more pandas like Xiang Xiang will be released back into their natural habitat. However, the giant panda's habitat has been shrinking more and more due to deforestation for wood and farming. This is the greatest threat of all to pandas. For this reason, the Chinese government has decided to protect 28 natural areas. They have also set up centres like the Chengdu Research Base. This research base started with six pandas whose habitat had been destroyed. Today it has 33 and they plan to reintroduce some of them to the wild in the future. It is important to breed pandas and to release them into the wild. However, protecting their habitat is the most important step. This is the only way to make sure they survive.

Read the text and choose the correct options. Coffee decaffeination processes Every day it seems that medical researchers come out with a new study about coffee, how it is extremely unhealthy for you and/or full of amazing benefits. The focus of most of these studies is more particularly about the effects of caffeine on human health. As caffeine, coffee’s most potent element, is a stimulant, it can produce both positive and negative effects. It can wake you up in the morning, but it can also lead to sleeplessness, a racing heartbeat, and anxiety. It is therefore no surprise that many people have decided to cut caffeine out of their diets. As for me, I have grown to like the taste of coffee, but to me the main purpose of drinking it is to get an extra jolt of energy. That is why I will admit to a certain prejudice against decaf, perhaps prompted by bad experiences with weak and tasteless brew, because it is true that the actual process of removing caffeine from coffee can degrade the taste beyond repair. Early decaffeination attempts involved soaking the green beans in water and then using various solvents to separate the caffeine in the resulting water solution. The beans were then re-introduced to the caffeine-free solution in order to absorb some of the flavour they had lost. Solvents used included benzene, chloroform, and trichloroethylene, all of which were later found to have toxic effects. In the 1970s, dichloromethane came into use to replace the earlier solvents before it too was deemed possibly carcinogenic. In response to these concerns about solvents, some coffee companies began to run the water solution through charcoal filters as a means of removing the caffeine. The so-called Swiss Water Process, developed in Switzerland in the 1930s, goes one step further. After a batch of coffee beans has been steeped in hot water, that water is filtered, and then is used to soak the next batch of beans to be processed. In this way, the beans lose caffeine as they soak, but lose less of their flavour. Yet another method that aims to safely remove caffeine from coffee beans involves a fascinating compound procedure. The solvent used in this method is neither water nor one of the earlier toxic solvents. Instead, caffeine in the coffee beans is dissolved by means of carbon dioxide. In order to accomplish this, the carbon dioxide must become a supercritical fluid, created when it is compressed and heated to the point that it has the same density in liquid and gaseous forms. As this supercritical CO2 is passed through the beans, it can penetrate them because of its gaseous properties, and yet is able to dissolve the caffeine they contain because of its liquid properties. In 2004, Brazilian scientists identified a new strain of coffee beans with a naturally low level of caffeine. They found three coffee plants from Ethiopia that contain almost no caffeine, as they seem lack an enzyme necessary to caffeine production. If these plants can be crossed with commercial strains of coffee plants, we may one day see more coffee on the market that is naturally low in caffeine. With these advances, and the current methods of decaffeination, decaf junkies are sure to be able to get their fix of coffee that not only tastes great, but won’t keep them up half the night. As for me, I do want to stay up half the night, so I’ll stick to my full-strength brew.

Advanced level Read the article and choose the correct option.