Advanced English Language Skills /

English Language Framework Level 5

Spring 2023

Written Examination

This paper contains sections on Language in Use, Reading and

Writing.

You may complete the sections in any order.

Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

The maximum mark for this paper is 100.

Any reference material brought into the examination room must be

handed to the invigilator before the start of the examination.

All answers must be written in the answer booklet provided. Do NOT

write on this paper.
 Section A – Language in Use
Answer ALL questions

Marks
Question 1
Grammar - verb forms

Complete the sentences by putting the verb in brackets into the correct form.

Example:
You seem ______ (be) a bit upset today. What is wrong?
to be

a) I am hungry. Is there anything ______ (eat)? 1

b) ______ (have) already seen the film, I don’t want to see it again. 1

c) I don’t like being ______ (tell) what to do. 1

d) He is the youngest person ever ______ (become) CEO of the company. 1

e) I hope to have ______ (finish) all my homework before 10pm. 1

f) There’s no point in ______ (complain) about it. Nothing will change. 1

Total 6 Marks

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 Marks
Question 2
Vocabulary - tourism

Complete each sentence by adding ONE (1) word from below. You will not need all
the words.

remote beaten overcrowded overrated picturesque

tacky dull spoilt lively

Example:
The cottage is very ______. It took hours to drive there and there was nothing else near it.
remote

a) If you walk along the beach, you will see people selling ______ souvenirs. They 1
are cheap and badly-made so I wouldn’t buy any if I were you.

b) We were walking along the coast when we stumbled upon a ______ little fishing 1
village. It was very pretty and looked like a postcard.

c) The evenings in this town can be a bit ______ as everything closes and there is 1
not much to do.

d) I didn’t go to the hotel pool because it was always too ______. There were too 1
many people and there was nowhere to sit.

e) The once-peaceful coastline has been ______ by so many new, high-rise hotels. 1

f) Even though we were in Paris, we found a quiet restaurant off the ______ track. 1

Total 6 Marks

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 Marks
Question 3
Grammar - relative clauses

Complete the sentences by putting ONE (1) relative pronoun in each gap. You can
use a word more than once.

Example:
I am looking for someone ______ can speak French.
who

a) It’s very noisy in this hotel ______ makes it difficult to sleep at night. 1

b) That coffee is not mine. The coffee ______ I ordered was a large one. 1

c) I’ve got two sisters, neither of ______ can drive. 1

d) This is the restaurant in ______ we ate last night. 1

e) I am looking for a shop ______ I can buy some shoes. 1

f) I wish you would listen to ______ I say. 1

Total 6 Marks

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 Marks
Question 4
Vocabulary - prefixes

Complete the sentences by putting ONE (1) prefix in each gap.

Example:
I am afraid that I ______agree with you about that. I have a different opinion.
dis

a) I went to see the doctor because my heartbeat was ______regular. 1

b) Your essay doesn’t make any sense. It is ______coherent. 1

c) I hate waiting a long time for things. I am very ______patient. 1

d) Around 15% of the adults in the world are ______literate, mainly due to lack of 1
education opportunities in poor countries.

e) The people will not trust a leader who has been ______honest. 1

f) I feel a little bit ______easy about getting on the boat in these rough seas. 1

Total 6 Marks

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 Marks
Question 5
Grammar - pronouns

Complete the sentences by putting ONE (1) pronoun in each gap.

Example:
Are you going to help or will I have to do it all by _______?
myself

a) The children really enjoyed ______ at the picnic. 1

b) When a person lives alone, ______ can sometimes feel quite lonely. 1

c) Jane has left ______ bag in the classroom. 1

d) We painted our house ______ because it was too expensive to get someone 1
professional to do it.

e) We were about to leave when ______ started raining. 1

f) I wouldn’t wear those shoes if I were ______. Try these instead. 1

Total 6 Marks

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 Marks
Question 6
Vocabulary - jobs

Complete the sentences by putting ONE (1) word in each gap. The first letter is
given.

Example:
All women get six months of paid m______ leave after the birth of a child.
maternity

a) When choosing a person to fill the vacancy, we will consider experience as well 1
as academic q______.

b) Unfortunately, I have just been made r______ and so now I need to find a new 1
job.

c) Jackie has been given a p______ and so she is now the managing director. 1

d) I am looking forward to getting a 3% pay r_____ next month. 1

e) I like my job because I get on very well with my c______. 1

f) One of the b______ of working here is that you can get free food in the canteen. 1

Total 6 Marks

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 Marks
Question 7
Grammar - irregular verbs

Complete the sentences by putting the verbs in brackets in then correct form.

Example:
I ______ (drink) two cups of coffee yesterday.
drank

a) You left the house this morning before I had even ______ (wake) up. 1

b) I was not happy with the service at the restaurant so I ______ (seek) an 1
explanation. In the end they said it was because they were short staffed.

c) We have been ______ (stick) in this traffic jam for over an hour now. 1

d) When we arrived, I ______ (hang) my coat near the door, but it is not there any 1
more.

e) My best friend has ______ (fly) to the US to spend some time with his family. 1

f) When I heard the joke, I ______ (burst) out laughing. 1

Total 6 Marks

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 Marks
Question 8
Vocabulary - animal idioms

Complete each sentence by adding ONE (1) word from below. You will not need all
the words.

duck fish chickens horse lion

birds tail bark roar paws

Example:
We can pick up a cake when we go to buy the milk - it’ll kill two ______ with one stone.
birds

a) I made an embarrassing comment in the meeting so I left with my ______ 1

between my legs.

b) I didn’t think that Paula would get the manager’s job, but she turned out to be a bit 1
of a dark ______.

c) The others in my office are very lazy so I end up doing the ______’s share of the 1
work.

d) I gave him my advice, but he didn’t listen. It’s like water off a ______’s back to 1
him.

e) Don’t worry about Steven. His ______ is worse than his bite. 1

f) I didn't feel in my comfort zone when I moved to Italy. I was like a ______ out of 1
water.

Total 6 Marks

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 Marks
Question 9
Grammar - Uses of the past tense

Write ‘P’ if the sentence refers to the past and ‘F’ if it refers to the future.

Example:
We had no money when we got married.
P

a) If I got a better job, we’d be able to afford a new house. 1

b) I’d rather you stayed in and did your homework instead of going out. 1

c) I wasn’t surprised when I heard she had lost her job. 1

d) I wish we were going on holiday too. 1

e) If I had studied more, I wouldn’t have failed my exams. 1

f) I’d rather you didn’t stay the night, if that’s alright. 1

Total 6 Marks

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 Marks
Question 10
Pronunciation - homophones

Complete each pair of sentence with homophones (words which sound the same but
are spelled differently.

Example:
We have a three-hour ______ before our next flight.
The maximum ______ we are allowed for luggage is 20kg per case.
wait
weight

a) You need to walk ______ the park and you will see the lake at the other side. 2
I ______ away the strawberries because they were out of date.

b) We can ______ the plane 30 minutes before the flight. 2

The children have nothing to do. They are feeling ______.

c) Unfortunately, there was a building ______ next to the hotel so we hardly slept. 2
She has now regained the ______ in her left eye.

Total 6 Marks

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Advanced English Language Skills / ELF Level 5 © NCC Education Limited 2023
 Section B – Reading
Answer ALL questions

Case Study 1
Ancient surgery

Read the text and answer the questions below.

The eastern side of the island of Borneo is a magical place. The island, which is crossed by
the equator, is covered by tropical rainforest. The rock underfoot is limestone, the remains
of prehistoric coral reefs heaved up from the ocean floor. Over millions of years, streams
have carved into the stone, creating networks of caves, treacherous sinkholes, and imposing
towers of rock.

The region is a hotspot for archaeologists. A team from Griffith University in Australia have
announced a big archaeological find from the island. In a cave on a peninsula of eastern
Borneo, scientists have excavated the oldest grave ever found in South-East Asia. The
31,000-year-old skeleton they found was missing its left foot and part of the left leg, showing
compelling signs of surgical amputation.

“If you’re looking north from the main chamber, you’re surrounded by the cave,” says India
Ella Dilkes-Hall, lead excavator on the dig. “Behind you is a higher second chamber, to your
left is a higher third chamber, and then directly north, you are looking straight out at tropical
rainforest.”

In early 2020, Dr Dilkes-Hall and colleagues excavated a small trench in the floor of the
cathedral-sized main chamber, where they found the bones of a 20-year-old man, carefully
buried with a small piece of red clay next to his face. That is significant, because Borneo is
home to some of the earliest known rock art. One of the oldest known examples of figurative
art, a 40,000-year-old painting of wild cattle, is located in a nearby cave.

But as surprising as what was found is what was missing: the man’s left leg and foot, from
the last third of his shin down. “The recovered parts of the left leg present with a very unusual
bony growth which closely matches clinical instances of deliberate amputation,” says
Timothy Maloney, a lead author of the latest study. The surface of the bone suggests that
the young man underwent amputation as a child and survived for six to nine years after the
fact, recovering well and apparently thriving as an amputee. To pull off such a sophisticated
medical procedure would have required detailed knowledge of human anatomy and the

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ability to negotiate exposed tissue, veins, arteries and nerves, never mind the risk of
infections.

“There is a strong case to be made that these communities had an understanding of

antiseptic and antimicrobial management, potentially taking advantage of the impressive
plant biodiversity of the region,” says Dr Maloney. The find overturns existing assumptions
that sophisticated medical knowledge only took off in Europe around 7,000 years ago.
Indeed, it suggests that humans may have been performing sophisticated medical
procedures in South-East Asia while humanity’s close cousins, the Neanderthals, still
roamed southern Europe.

(Adapted from The Economist, 7th September 2022)

Question 1

Match the numbers of paragraphs 1 to 6 with the headings (a) to (h) below. You will not
need TWO (2) headings.

a) Laid to rest with a significant object

b) An important finding

c) Working in a humid climate

d) A complex and dangerous operation

e) An enchanting location

f) Hunting wild cattle

g) The cavern’s interior

h) Earlier than previously thought

Total 6 Marks

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 Question 2

Read the following sentences and write true if the view is expressed in the text, false if the
opposite view is expressed in the text and not given if the information is not given in the
text.

a) The area described in the text is underwater. 1

b) There have been many important archeological finds on the island. 1

c) If you stand in the cave and look north, you will be looking outside. 1

d) Dr Dilkes-Hall excavated a body from a cathedral. 1

e) It is believed that the boy lost his leg in an accident. 1

Total 5 Marks

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Case Study 2
Chocolate

Read the text and answer the question below.

The delicious treat starts life as bitter cacao beans covered in a sweet, white pulp. Chocolate
is made from the beans of Theobroma cacao, a small evergreen tree native to the rainforests
of Central and South America. Translating as ‘food of the Gods ’in Greek, its elongated pods
grow up to 35cm. The pods take around five or six months to mature and ripen, turning a
yellowy-orange colour as they do so.

If you want to, you can eat the cacao beans raw. The beans themselves have an intense,
bitter, somewhat earthy flavour, and are a purple-brown colour on the inside. The white pulp
that surrounds the beans has a very complex flavour: it's much sweeter and fruitier, with a
hint of citrus.

Archaeological evidence - traces of cacao on ancient pottery - suggests we’ve been

indulging in cacao products for as long as 5,300 years. The Mayans, indigenous people of
Central America and Mexico, enjoyed it as a thick, foamy, bitter drink and the beans were
potentially even used as currency.

The beans were so revered that the Aztecs (circa 1345 - 1521) believed that cacao was a
gift from the god Quetzalcoatl. They continued the Mayan tradition of preparing cacao as a
drink, and it was enjoyed by rulers, priests and noblemen. Cacao was consumed for a variety
of purposes including medicinal and as an aphrodisiac, and formed part of the rations
supplied to Aztec soldiers. On special occasions, such as weddings, even lower-class
members of society would be treated to a sip of the divine drink.

Today, cacao is grown commercially grown in the tropical zones around the equator where
climate conditions are well suited for their needs; high temperatures, plenty of rainfall and
moist air, while the rainforest canopy provides shade and protection from the wind.

Chocolate is more often consumed as food rather than as a drink nowadays. Adding sugar
was a later development in the production of chocolate, having come about in the 16th
century, after the beans arrived in Spain. Slowly heating and cooling the chocolate allows
the fats to crystallise uniformly and the chocolate to break with a satisfying snap. It also
helps give chocolate that smooth and glossy finish.

(Adapted from BBC Science Focus, 2nd September 2022)

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 Question

Complete the sentences below by filling each gap with no more than THREE (3) words
from the text.

a) The interior of cacao beans is a ______ colour. 1

b) The Mayans used cacao beans as ______ as well as turning them into a drink. 1

c) While normally drunk by the important members of Aztec society, the less 1
important ______ people were allowed to taste chocolate on special occasions.

d) The trees on which cacao beans grow need to be sheltered from the ______. 1

e) It was not common to add ______ to chocolate until the 16th century. 1

Total 5 Marks

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Case Study 3
Grenada

Read the text and answer the question below.

We interview Danny Donelan, owner of a company which offers sailing tours on the
Caribbean island of Grenada.

What makes Grenada such a special place?

Grenada has a little of everything to offer: both black- and white-sand beaches; waterfalls
and rivers; 200-year-old spice plantations that have been turned into chocolate factories;
great restaurants; a happening nightlife; and great snorkelling and diving. But I think what
truly sets us apart is the people. Grenada has the friendliest of people, so it's not hard for
visitors to make friends and experience our culture.

What should we do here?

Sail on a traditional Carriacou sloop - a traditional, hand-made wooden boat. Other must-
dos include all a tour to see how chocolate is made where you can produce your own bars.
There are many live-music venues which you can visit on every night of the week. There
are also many restaurants for food lovers.

What makes Grenada such a great sailing destination?

We have three annual sailing events, including the Carriacou Regatta – for traditional boats
– which is the oldest in the Caribbean. Grenada’s waters are amazing, of course, but what
makes us truly unique is that we build our own boats. Sailing is traditionally a very elitist
sport, but in Grenada, everyone from boat-builders and fishermen to regular folk own
handmade boats and race them in our local regattas. When we compete, we race as a
village, which means our regattas are a little more colourful than most: the whole village
comes to cheer you on and then we party afterwards – Grenadians know how to party so
our regattas are very lively and authentic events.

(Adapted from CN Traveller, 16th September 2021)

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 Question

Answer the questions with ONE (1) or TWO (2) words.

a) What does Danny say is the most special thing about Grenada? 1

b) What type of vehicle is a Carriacou? 1

c) How many yearly regattas take place in Grenada? 1

d) What do the locals do after a boat race? 1

Total 4 Marks

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 Section C – Writing
You must answer this question

Read the question below and write an answer of between 300 and 350 words.

Many school children have to do homework almost every day. What are the advantages
and disadvantages of this? What is your own opinion?

Total 20 Marks

End of paper

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