Name: ______________________________________ Class: ______________________________

Gold Advanced Progress test 3

Section 1: Vocabulary

1 Read the text and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
Since retail sales of our new product line have fallen (1) _____ in the last few weeks, we are
going to ask our customers to complete feedback forms to see why this is happening. Id
particularly like to know if our marketing (2) _____ has been alienating our (3) _____
customers. In all (4) _____ , it is the result of a general economic dip but we need to make
sure as several customers have (5) _____ objections about the (6) _____ campaign weve
been running. (7) _____ mind that the campaign has been successful in attracting new
customers, I do not want to lose long-term ones, some of whom I am (8) _____ certain are
already looking for alternative products. In fact, social media these days can (9) _____ a
great risk to a companys reputation as it is very easy for one person (10) _____themself, to
tell the world about a companys failings.

1 A relatively B fairly C slightly D reasonably

2 A placement B technique C launch D strategy
3 A loyal B devoted C dependable D responsible
4 A possibility B likelihood C prospects D luck
5 A put B posed C raised D realised
6 A advertising B promoting C selling D publicising
7 A Dont B Never C Forever D Doesnt
8 A adequately B effectively C pretty D greatly
9 A give B pose C make D offer
10 A as B for C by D with

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Section 2: Grammar

2 Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence,
using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between three
and six words, including the word given.

1 It was only because the salesperson was so persuasive that I bought the phone.
NOT
I _________________________________ if the salesperson hadnt been so persuasive.

2 Youre going to get the promotion, his colleague said.

TOLD
His colleague _________________________________ get the promotion.

3 You can contact him in the office on Mondays and Tuesdays if you wish to.
SHOULD
He is in the office on Mondays and Tuesdays, _________________________________ him.

4 I am different from the other job candidates as I already have experience in this field.
WHAT
The fact that I already have experience in this field _________________________________ the
other candidates.

5 I have an invitation from them to travel to Australia with them.

INVITED
They _________________________________ to Australia with them.

6 My boss thinks that I broke the photocopier.

ACCUSED
My boss _________________________________ the photocopier.

7 They dont like it because the course runs for eight consecutive weekends.
DISLIKE
What they _________________________________ it runs for eight consecutive weekends.

8 We have to complain in order to get them to make any changes.

UNLESS
They _________________________________ we complain.

9 Ill be very angry if I lose my job because of your mistake.

WERE
Id be very angry _________________________________ my job because of your mistake.

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Section 3: Listening

3 03 You will hear Tim Cole talking about guidebooks. Choose the answer (A, B or C)
which fits best according to what you hear.

1 Once, when Tim used a guidebook in Australia,

A he found the best budget hotel ever.
B it took him ages to find the place he was looking for.
C he ended up at an unexpected destination.

2 Tim believes the problem with guidebooks is that

A some of them are very poorly researched.
B many things have changed by the time you read the book.
C they are only regularly updated.

3 The thing Tim particularly dislikes about guidebooks is

A the recommendations about where to eat.
B that they have too much information about nightlife.
C the limited amount of information about history and culture.

4 Other things which should be included in guidebooks are

A clear and detailed maps of the area.
B as much information as possible about an area.
C good pictures of well-known tourist sites.

5 What is Tims view on digital guidebooks?

A They can be problematic when downloading.
B He cant find what he wants as easily as he can in a traditional guidebook.
C He likes the fact that theyre tailored to your individual requirements.

6 What did Tim like about Twitter tourism?

A It allowed him to meet more local people than tourists.
B The advice from other travellers was extremely helpful.
C He discovered some unusual things to do.
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Section 4: Reading

4 Read the text. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the text. Choose from
the paragraphs AG the one which fits each gap (17). There is one extra paragraph
which you do not need to use.

A In fact, it turns out that people do prefer ice creams with names including back vowels. In
another study researchers had participants read a description of a new ice cream.
B They downloaded a list of eighty-one ice cream flavours and a list of 592 cracker brands
from a dieting website. For each list, the total number of front vowels and the total number
of back vowels was counted. The result was that the ice cream names indeed had more
back vowels and the cracker names had more front vowels.
C Mammals and birds tend to use low-frequency sounds when they are aggressive or hostile
but use higher-frequency sounds when frightened, appeasing or friendly.
D In one study, for example, they created pairs of made-up product names that were identical
except for having front vowels or back vowels. People were then asked to say which of a
number of hypothetical products seemed bigger or smaller, or heavier or lighter.
E Unbelievable as it may seem, the sounds that human beings make when they are happy or
contented are very similar to the instinctive purring of a cat or the wagging of a dogs tail.
Of course, the sounds and facial expressions which human beings produce are capable of
expressing extremely subtle nuances of meaning, unlike sounds in the animal world.
F Of course, smiling in humans has evolved into a means of expressing many shades of
enjoyment and other emotional meanings, just as back vowels have become part of a rich
system for expressing complex meanings by combining sounds into words.
G This link of high pitch with deference or friendliness may also explain the origin of the
smile. We make a smile by retracting the corners of the mouth and this shrinks the size of
the front cavity in the mouth, just like the vowels in mint or bean.
H The vowels in words like cheese or bean, mint or slim are front vowels made by holding the
tongue high up in the front part of the mouth. By contrast, the vowels in large, cold, poor
and butter are back vowels.
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 A product by any other name might not taste so sweet,
creamy, rich or crunchy.
William Shakespeares Juliet was only partially correct when she observed a rose by any other
name would smell as sweet. Sounds dont generally tell you what a word means but they do
influence how people perceive things. Known as sound symbolism, this phenomenon has
been most closely studied in relation to the difference between two kinds of vowels, front
vowels and back vowels.
1 _____
Linguists have noted that these often occur in words that refer to big, fat, heavy things. They do
not, on the other hand, appear in words that refer to small, thin, light things. This is not always
true but its a tendency that researchers have found in many words in many different languages.
2 _____
In each case, the participants in the study tended to choose those named by back vowels as
larger, heavier, thicker and darker, a finding with important implications for marketing
executives. Logically it would be better for them to give their ice cream brands names with
these vowels and thus convey the idea that their products are heavy and rich.
3 _____
Half the participants read a version where the ice cream was called Frish (front vowel) and the
other half read a version where it was called Frosh (back vowel), but the descriptions were
otherwise identical. Asked their opinions, the Frosh people rated their ice cream as smoother,
creamier and richer than the Frish people, and were more likely to say they would buy it. But
does this hold true for real brand names? Researchers came up with a clever way of finding out
whether it does or not.
4 _____
So whats going on? Is there any reason why front vowels should be associated with small,
thin, light things? By the same token, why do back vowels make us think of big, solid, heavy
things? The most widely accepted theory, the Frequency Theory, suggests that low frequencies
(low pitch) and high frequencies (high pitch) are associated with particular meanings.
5 _____
Since larger animals naturally make deeper sounds and smaller animals naturally make high-
pitched sounds, the idea is that animals try to appear larger when they are competing or
aggressive but try to appear smaller and less threatening when they are not.
6 _____
In fact, the similarity in mouth position between smiling and the vowel i explains why we say
cheese when we take pictures; I is the smiling vowel.
The theory is thus that smiling evolved as a way for mammals in competitive situations to
make the voice sound more high-pitched, so as to make the smiler appear smaller and less
aggressive, and hence friendlier.
7 _____
Something similarly beautiful was created as saltpetre, snow, sherbet and salt were combined
to create the sweet lusciousness of ice cream, something that makes us all smile on a hot
summer day.

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Section 5: Writing

5 Choose the correct alternatives to complete the report.

Employee satisfaction with training courses

Introduction
The principal (1) points/purposes/aims/targets of this report are to provide an overview of
employee opinions about the company training scheme over the past year, to identify areas
that (2) must/want/need/desire improving and to recommend other courses which employees
would find useful in the future.

Survey results
Employees were (3) responded/enquired/demanded/requested to complete questionnaires
about their training courses and were also interviewed by my colleagues about their
experiences. (4) While/During/Despite/Yet the majority of those (5) that/whose/which/where
opinions we sought found the courses satisfactory, around ten percent (6) commented/uttered/
expressed/articulated total dissatisfaction with the courses they had attended. Just under
twenty percent were totally dissatisfied with their course, stating that it was not relevant to
their current position in the company. Nearly half of those (7) reviewed/surveyed/scanned/
queried who had participated in external training courses believed that the course wasted
valuable working time and could have been shorter and still just as effective.

(8) With regard/Concerning/Bearing in mind/As far to in-house training, a third of the

participants felt these courses were less effective because they were often contacted by
members of their teams about problems during course breaks, which made it difficult to
concentrate. Just over half of the respondents requested more comprehensive IT training,
especially since the roll-out of the new system a month ago.

Recommendations
(9) Anyhow/Moreover/In addition/Notwithstanding the fact that the majority of staff were
satisfied with their courses, several problems have been highlighted and need to be addressed.
(10) In my view/From my opinion/As far as me/I am of opinion the company should:
ensure that the courses are relevant to the staffing requirements.
investigate the possibility of doing more online courses instead of external ones to reduce
the time away from work.
assess the value of the in-house programmes with a view to limiting interruptions.

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Section 6: Speaking

6 Talk to your teacher about some of your experiences and opinions. You should:

explain how much you think you are influenced by advertising and why.
say if you agree with people who believe that advertising is a form of
brainwashing and give reasons.
describe the kind of advice you would give someone who has a poor memory.
outline the advantages and disadvantages of working alone rather than in a team.

Your teacher will mark your presentation using the score card below. The teacher circles 1
mark if a student includes the area and 2 marks for communicating it accurately and
effectively. There is a maximum of 8 marks.

The student:
explained how much they think they are influenced by advertising and why. 1 2
said if they agree that advertising is a form of brainwashing and gave reasons. 1 2
described the kind of advice they would give someone with a poor memory. 1 2
outlined the advantages and disadvantages of working alone rather than in a 1 2
team.

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