Vocabulary

1. Complete the sentences with the verbs from the list.

move | show | catch | move | stay | end | come | appear

1. I’ve decided to leave this area and am selling my house – I’m planning to move out
next month.

2. I don’t feel like going out this evening, I’d rather stay in.

3. He’s a great actor, and he’s in a new film that’s going to come out in May.

4. After travelling for so many years, he was a bit disappointed to end up living in
such a quiet village.

5. If you come and stay in my city, I’d love to show you around.

6. I haven’t seen her for ages, so it’ll be nice to catch up with her on Tuesday.

7. My brother’s an actor – he’s going to appear in a play in London next month.

8. I need to have my new flat decorated before I can move in.

2. Read the definitions and write the correct adjectives. There is one space for
each letter.

1. angry a _ _ _ _ _ _
annoyed

2. unhappy because you are not with other people l_____

lonely

3. wanting to learn or know about something c _ _ _ _ _ _

curious

4. not confident about talking to new people s _ _

shy

5. pleasant and attractive c _ _ _ _ _ _ _

charming

1
  

6. unfriendly and unkind n____

nasty

7. very pleased d _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
delighted

8. behaving in a way which is not polite and upsets other people r _ _ _

rude

3. Choose the correct verbs to complete the sentences.

1. My cousin was very happy when he kept / got / joined into his college basketball
team.

2. Maria went / believed / tried her best to win the race.

3. The seaside café was sometimes busy, sometimes empty – it all believed /
depended / dealt on the weather.

4. My teacher really believes / keeps / deals in me – she’s sure I’ll be able to go to

university.

5. The atmosphere at the sports club is friendly, and everyone has a chance to keep /
try / join in.

6. My brother has to depend / deal / try with all sorts of different problems at work.

7. My aunt says that if you want to achieve something, then you just have to go /
believe / get for it!

8. My sister really wanted to play golf well, and she depended / kept / tried on
practising until she succeeded.

4. Complete the sentences with a suitable reporting verb in the past simple.
The first letter is given.

1. My mother reminded me to take my English book to school.

2. My brother disagreed with me when I said it was a good idea to go to the cinema
by bus, so we cycled there instead.

2
 
  

3. Henry wondered whether he should take an umbrella with him, but finally decided
not to.

4. My father complained to the waiter when we had to wait for ages for our food.

5. My friend promised not to tell anyone about the surprise I was planning.

6. Jane apologised for being so late.

7. Ben joked that he could beat his brother at tennis using a frying pan instead of a
racket!

8. My sister warned me not to make a noise while the baby was sleeping.

Grammar

5. Complete the sentences using a/an/the if necessary. (Ø = no word)

1. Our school is near the city centre.

2. That’s an interesting idea!

3. My uncle’s a teacher.

4. I think that Ø cats usually like milk.

5. The park near my house is quite big.

6. I love watching Ø tennis on TV.

7. I have a friend who loves ballet.

8. I’d love to sail round the Mediterranean.

6. Rewrite the sentences using reported or direct speech.

1. ’I saw some beautiful architecture in China,’ he said.

He _________________________________________________
said he’d/he had seen some beautiful architecture in China.

2. ’Where are you planning to go in the summer holidays?’ my aunt asked me.

3
 
  

My aunt _________________________________________________
asked me where I was planning to go in the summer holidays.

3. ’Did you notice all the pollution in the city?’ Sarah asked us.
Sarah _________________________________________________
asked us if/whether we’d/we had noticed all the pollution in the city.

4. Karen said, ’I love living in the countryside!’

Karen _________________________________________________
said she loved living in the countryside.

5. Tom said, ’I haven’t visited the ruins of the old castle.’

Tom _________________________________________________
said he hadn’t/had not visited the ruins of the old castle.

6. ’I’m going to spend a week by the sea,’ he said.

He _________________________________________________
said he was going to spend a week by the sea.

7. ’Is your town interesting?’ she asked them.

She _________________________________________________
asked them if/whether their town was interesting.

8. ’Have you ever been to London?’ he asked me.

_________________________________________________
He asked me if/whether I’d/I had ever been to London.

7. Choose the correct linking word or phrase to complete the sentences.

I’m working hard in my science classes (1) in order to / whereas / so that I can be an
engineer one day. I want to study maths, (2) despite / besides / whereas sometimes
finding it quite difficult. She doesn’t work harder at geography than is absolutely
necessary, (3) so that / as /despite she prefers history. I’m going to spend a week on
a farm (4) in order to / because / so that get some work experience. (5) Despite /
Although / Besides my dad wanted to be an astronaut when he was little, he became
a computer programmer instead. (6) Besides / Whereas / As the friendly atmosphere
there, my college is a place where most people work hard. (7) Besides / Despite /
Whereas my brothers and sisters all want to be teachers, I want to be a nurse. I need
to study hard at school, (8) so that / despite / because I’d like to go to university.

4
 
  

8. Read the letter and write the correct word in each space.

Hi Laura,

It’s great you’re coming to stay with me next month. You’ll see, my town is (1) _____
lively place for teenagers. We’ll have plenty (2) _____ fun! Are you still keen (3)
_____ cycling? There’s a big forest where I (4) _____ to go every week with my dad
on our bikes when I was little – I haven’t been for ages but it would be cool to go
there with you. You could borrow a bike from Fran, a friend of mine (5) _____ house
is very near ours. In your last letter you said you (6) _____ a new computer game.
Will you bring it with you so we can play it together? I’ve bought some special sweets
(7) _____ you – I hope you like them! They’re quite famous in my country and they
(8) _____ only made in our town.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to seeing you soon!

Sam

1a
2 of
3 on
4 used
5 whose
6 had/’d
7 for
8 are/’re

Word profile

9. Complete the sentences with the phrases from the list.

in alphabetical order | in first place | above all | at all | as you know | takes place | out
of order | after all

1. I hate it when the coffee machine at college is out of order, and that happens a lot.

2. You can win quite a lot of money if you finish the tennis tournament in first place.

3. Can you put these words in alphabetical order, like in a dictionary?

4. I have to talk to the teacher today about my project, as you know, so don’t bother

5
 
  

waiting for me later.

5. My cousin told me he likes his swimming coach because she makes the team train
very hard, and above all, gives them all a lot of confidence.

6. I’m afraid I didn’t enjoy that concert at all.

7. The dance festival takes place once a year and is very popular.

8. I think you should apologise; after all, you did start the argument!

Listening

10. Listen to the conversation between two friends, Maria and Ben, about being
famous. Decide if the sentences are T (true) or F (false).

1. Maria says that celebrities’ problems are the same as everybody else’s. F

2. Ben believes that there is too much information about celebrities online. F

3. Maria thinks that knowing about celebrities encourages people to achieve more. T

4. Ben says that celebrities should behave in a more professional way. F

5. Maria believes that there are advantages to being famous. T

AUDIO SCRIPT

Maria: Hi Ben, did you hear about that actor yesterday who went...
Ben: No, Maria:, I didn’t, and to be honest, I don’t want to.
Maria: OK, OK. But why not? It’s only natural to be interested in other people’s lives.
Ben: Maybe, but I don’t understand why everybody wants to talk about people they
don’t even know. I think that’s strange!
Maria: I really don’t agree. In my opinion, famous people are just like everybody else.
I mean, a lot of the difficulties they have in life are different, but they’re still humans.
They need to eat, sleep, they get bored sometimes, they need friends...
Ben: Yeah, but that still doesn’t explain why some people seem to be as interested in
celebrities they’ve never met as they are in their own friends!
Maria: Well yes, maybe you’re right, it is a bit strange. But I suppose you can find out
lots of things about them on the internet, so you can begin to feel that you actually
know them.

6
 
  

Ben: Yes, but all that information about them online doesn’t mean you know what
they’re really like. It’s just an image.
Maria: That’s true, but on social media you can find lots of conversations between
stars and their fans. The stars answer questions and are often very honest, I think.
Ben: I’m not sure... I think they’re very careful about what they say.
Maria: But don’t you think that when we see all the great things they’ve done, it
makes us want to do better ourselves? I really believe it makes people aim higher in
life! Or even just do things they wouldn’t think of trying if they didn’t see celebrities
doing them.
Ben: Perhaps some people feel like that, but I think your friends, your family, your
teachers are the people who should help you decide what to do in life, don’t you?
Maria: Of course! But celebrities have an effect too. They need to behave well in
public – I mean they have responsibilities because so many people watch what they
do, especially young kids. They always need to think about that.
Ben: Well if you have a lot of fans, yes, you do need to remember that there will
always be someone watching you, wherever you are. That must be difficult. I’d hate
not to be able to go out without people taking my photograph, or wanting to talk to
me.
Maria: But it’s not all bad, is it? I wouldn’t mind people knowing about me because I’d
done something really special, or was really good at something. I’d feel proud. And
I’d enjoy the good things about it, like meeting interesting people, travelling all over
the world. It would be great to have so many opportunities.
Ben: Yeah, I’m sure you’re right. But I still don’t understand why people are so
interested in them. I love watching films, but I don’t need to know all about the actors’
personal lives...

Reading

11. Read a teenager called Jim’s blog about moving away from the city to live
in the countryside. For each question, choose the best answer, a, b or c.

A year ago, just before the summer holidays, my parents announced that they were
planning to move out of the city to live in the countryside. They said they were tired of
their stressful lives in the city, and the high prices. My mother’s a writer, so if there’s
an internet connection, she can work wherever she is. My father’s a musician, so it
isn’t that simple for him, but he explained that he hoped he could find work locally,
teaching children to play the piano and the guitar.

Well, the news was completely unexpected, and of course my sister and I weren’t
interested in hearing about all the advantages of being out of the city – the open
spaces, the wildlife, enjoying the changing seasons, no pollution, all that sort of thing.

7
 
  

We didn’t want to leave our friends, or all the facilities available to us. My sister’s mad
about skateboarding, and we both suddenly realised that our school wasn’t too bad,
despite all the homework!

Instead of listening to us and changing their minds, my parents insisted that it was a
great idea. According to them, we were young enough to handle such a big change
in our lives fairly easily, and they said they had dreamed of doing this for years. Even
worse, they told us they had found a big house in a small village, and that they were
selling the flat we lived in so they could buy it. My sister and I imagined it must be a
ruin. After all, how could we possibly afford a big house? But actually, we could,
because houses are reasonably cheap in the countryside compared to those in the
city, and when they showed us pictures of it online, we saw that, in fact, it looked
pretty nice.

A month later, here we all are, in a tiny village thirty kilometres from the nearest town.
We’ll have to get up early to catch a bus to school when the new term starts, which
I’m definitely not looking forward to. My sister’s taken up mountain biking with some
of the local kids, so she’s happy. I still miss my friends, but some of them are coming
to stay next week, and I’ve made some new ones, too. One of them’s into making
animated films, and I’ve discovered that’s really interesting. Who knows, maybe I’ll be
a famous film-maker one day!

1. Why had Jim’s parents decided to leave the city?

a) They wanted to feel less worried and more relaxed.

b) They couldn’t afford to live there any longer.
c) The jobs they did had changed.

2. How did Jim feel about moving?

a) surprised his parents hadn’t asked him what he thought about

it
b) worried about the way his life would change
c) grateful for the chance to go to a different school

3. Jim’s parents said that Jim and his sister were

a) able to deal with the move.

b) right to be excited about the future.
c) lucky to have this opportunity.

8
 
  

4. What does Jim say about their new house?

a) It was older than their flat in the city.

b) It was better than he had expected.
c) It was extremely expensive.

5. What is Jim pleased about now?

a) He has found a new hobby.

b) He lives fairly near his new school.
c) He is going to visit his old friends soon.

Writing

12. Your teacher has asked you to write a review of an adventure film you have
seen.

Write about 120 words.

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Speaking

13. A. Complete the questions with one word.

1. Some people say cities are terrible places to live. Do you agree?

2. What do you think about stopping cars going into city centres?

3. How would your life change if you moved to the countryside or city?

4. Why do people like spending time in quiet places?

5. In what ways does the internet affect where people choose to live?

B. Ask and answer the questions with a partner.

9