SELECTIVITY PRACTICE TEST

Name and Last Name:

Date:

Haiti In Ruins After Huge Earthquake

Television pictures are slowly beginning to show how great the damage is in Haiti
following the huge earthquake on Tuesday. A magnitude 7.3quake, just 16km from the capital,
hit the Caribbean nation as people were going home after work. It was the worst earthquake to
strike Haiti in more than two centuries. Much of the country has been devastated. Many major
buildings in the capital Port-au-Prince have collapsed, including the Presidential Palace and the
UN headquarters. Haiti's President Rene Preval described the scene in the capital as
"unimaginable". The Red Cross says up to 3 million people have been affected. Mr. Preval fears
“well over 100,000 people” may have died. Haiti's ambassador to the USA, Raymond Joseph,
said there was "no way of estimating" how many casualties there were. Countries around the
world are acting quickly to send whatever help they can to Haiti. US President Barack Obama
has promised America will do all it can to help. He vowed "unwavering support" following a
“particularly cruel” disaster.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. More than half its people live below the
poverty line on less than two dollars a day. It is one of the poorest-equipped countries on Earth to
deal with such a catastrophe. The nation was still trying to recover from being hit by four deadly
hurricanes in 30 days in 2008. Its economy is in ruins and it has a long history of corruption and
coups.

I COMPREHENSION (4 points)

ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-3 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR
OWN WORDS. (1 point
per answer)

1. What happened last Tuesday?

2. What are the main consequences of the earthquake? Name at least two.

3. Why is Haiti especially vulnerable to the catastrophe?

ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE
WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT, OR USE YOUR OWN WORDS. (0.5 points per answer)

4. Most Haitians were having their breakfast when the earthquake hit. T / F

5. The article says Haiti’s president believes 3 million people are suffering. T / F
7 FIND IN THE TEXT ONE WORD MEANING “guessing, calculating” (VERB)
0.25
8 GIVE ONE OPPOSITE FOR “DIED” (line 8) (past participle)
0.25
9 FIND IN THE TEXT THE WORD WHICH HAS THE FOLLOWING DEFINITION:
“official residence of an exalted person” (NOUN)

0.25
10 GIVE A NOUN WITH THE SAME ROOT AS “DEADLY”(ADVERB) (line 15)
0.25
11 GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNDERLINED WORDS:
A hundred and twenty one people have been rescued so far.

0.5
12 JOIN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES USING A RELATIVE. MAKE CHANGES IF
NECESSARY:
“Ann was an excellent teacher. She attacked some of her students verbally.” 0.5

13 COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONAL SENTENCE:

“If I had more money, ……………”
0.5
14 USE THE WORDS IN THE BOXES TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL SENTENCE. USE
ALL AND ONLY THE WORDS IN THE BOXES WITHOUT CHANGING THEIR FORM:

pay me him attention

to I wanted to 0.5

III PRODUCTION: WRITE A COMPOSITION OF APPROXIMATELY 120 WORDS. CHOOSE

ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS, AND FOCUS STRICTLY ON IT. SPECIFY YOUR
OPTION. (3 points)

1. Natural disasters.
2. Describe what you can do to help out people in need.