UNIT 5: INVENTIONS

A. PHONETICS
I. Pick out the word whose primary stress is placed differently from that of the rest.
1. A. blackboard B. invent C. bulky D. lighthouse
2. A. garage B. collapse C. support D. technique
3. A. convenient B. portable C. benefit D. energy
II. Pick out the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from that of the rest.
4. A. panic B. correct C. protect D. circle
5. A. speakers B. headphones C. laptops D. earbuds
B. VOCABULARY
I. Choose one suitable word from the box to complete each sentence.
artificial maximum communication digital technology
automatic exact sudden power complicated

6. It‟s a/an _______ watch. It‟s got hands.

7. If you play this stereo on _______ volume, you‟ll go deaf!
8. It‟s not an _______ experiment. In fact, it‟s really simple.
9. There aren‟t any windows in the lab, so all the light is _______.
10. The days when the only means of _______ was by letter has gone forever.
11. Was it a _______ decision, or had you thought about it for a long time?
12. The lights are _______ - they come on when you enter the room, and go off when you leave.
13. I can‟t remember the _______ year it was discovered, but it was around 1976.
14. Modern _______ makes all our lives easier.
15. Disconnect you PC from the _______ supply before you take the case off.

II. Choose A, B, C or D that best completes each blank

Technology and the young
Modern technology is changing and improving all the time. Every month, scientists (16) ______ new gadgets
and (17) ______ to help us with our daily lives, and (18) ______ ways to make existing technology faster and
better. Our homes are full of hardware ( such as DVD players and computers) and (19) ______ ( such as
computer games and MP3s). (20) ______ suggests, however, that it‟s young people who are best able to deal
with this change. Whereas teenagers have no problem (21) ______ a DVD player, their mums and dads and
granparents often find using new technology (22) ______ and difficult. But you are a teenager who criticises
your parents for their (23) ______ of technological awareness, don‟t be too hard on them! Some time in the
future, when you „ve got children of your own, your (24)______ to deal with new technology will probably
(25) ______ and your children will feel more comfortable with new technology than you do. You won‟t want
them to criticise you, will you?
16. A. estimate B. invent C. involve D. experiment
17. A. experiments B. effects C. laboratories D. equipment
18. A. involve B. discover C. laboratories D. connect
19. A. screens B. gadgets C. software D. laptops
20. A. Research B. Experiment C. Program D. Technology
21. A. involving B. operating C. discovering D. inventing
22. A. automatic B. unique C. sudden D. complicated
23. A. research B. experiment C. effect D. lack
24. A. ability B. capacity C. possibility D. incapacity
25. A. decrease B. involve C. lack D. estimate

C. GRAMMAR
I. Choose A, B, C or D that best completes each unfinished sentence.
26. He tried to deny ______ the money, but no one believe him.
A. take B. to take C. taking
27. I hope ______ a pilot when I grow up.
A. become B. to become C. becoming
28. Mr Foster had decided ______, so we‟re going to have a party.
A. retire B. to retire C. retiring
29. Do you remember ______ to Germany when you were two years old?
A. go B. to go C. going
30. You can make the dog ______ to you by shouting “come”.
A. come B. to come C. coming
31. There‟s no answer at the office. Let‟s try ______ Roger‟s mobile.
A. call B. to call C. calling
32. Can you afford ______ so many presents?
A. buy B. to buy C. buying
33. You should practise ______ every day or you‟ll never learn.
A. juggle B. to juggle C. juggling
34. No! I refuse ______ a moment longer!
A. wait B. to wait C. waiting
35. It was very kind of Jack to offer ______ this weekend.
A. baby-sit B. to baby-sit C. baby-sitting

II. Identify one underlined word or phrase that must be changed for the sentence to be correct.
36. Stop pretending being asleep. I saw you open your eyes.
A B C D
37. My mum suggested to go bowling, but I didn‟t think it was a good idea.
A B C D
38. Do you like watching TV or do you prefer play computer games?
A B C D
39. Our head teacher makes us all to wear jackets – even in summer!
A B C D
40. I look forward to see you when I come next week.
A B C D
III. Complete each second sentence using the word given, so that it has a similar meaning to the first
sentence. Write between two and five words.
41. They finally succeeded in escaping from the room. managed
They finally _____________________________from the room.
42. I bought a new notebook on the way to school. stopped
On the way to school, I ______________________a new notebook.
43. We‟re staying in Milan for a night before flying home. planning
We _________________________________in Milan for a night before flying home.
44. I don‟t feel like to cook tonight – let‟s have a takeaway. want
I don‟t _______________________________tonight – let‟s have a takeaway.
45. I‟m going to get annoyed if you don‟t stop making that noise! continue
If you _______________________________ that noise, I‟m going to get annoyed!
46. Could you ask Francis to come into my office, please? mind
Do you ______________________________Francis to into my ofice, please?
47. I made up my mind to apologise to Mary. decided
 I ___________________________________ to Mary.
48. I don‟t argue with friends if I can avoid it. avoid
 I____________________________________ with friends if I can.
49. Playing computer games is a waste of time. play
 It is a ________________________________ computer games.
50. I am allowed to join the school trip. let
 They ________________________________the school trip.

D. READING
I. Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each question.
 An Amazing Invention
Look at your hand, and it might not seem very interesting at first, but it is an amazing tool. In fact, the human
hand is as complex and as useful as a high tech machine.
This might sound strange to you, but the development of the human hand changed the world. For example,
the thumb helped human beings become the smartest and most powerful animals on the Earth. Your thumb is
important because it faces your other fingers. This allows you to hold things, like tools. Being able to hold
tools allowed our ancient ancestors to build things and become more advanced. It is also possible that when
we developed thumbs and started to use tools, our brains developed faster as well.
And how about this? Your fingers are the only parts of your body that are moved by a “remote control”. A
remote control is the small device that you use to change the channel on your television. Your fingers are
controlled by remote because they don‟t have any muscles. You control your fingers with the muscles in your
palms. The palms are connected to the fingers by tendons. The palms pull the tendons, and move them the
same way a string moves a puppet.
Every part of the human body is complicated, but the hand is especially complicated. It has a total of 29
bones. There are 34 different muscles that move the fingers and the thumb. Seventeen of those muscles are in
the palm, and 18 are in the forearm. The human hand also has 48 nerves and 30 arteries. An artery is like a
vein, but it carries blood away from the heart.
Human beings are not as strong or as fast as other animals. However, our ancient ancestors were able to rule
the world for two reasons. First, they were intelligent. Second, they had these amazing instruments called
hands. There is no other invention like them in the world.
51. What is important about the thumb?
A. It faces our other fingers. B. It is longer our other fingers.
C. It has muscles on it. D. It has 29 bones.
52. Which statement is true?
A. The hand has 48 arteries. B. Our thumbs make us less intelligent.
C. A remote control is a very large machine. D. There are 34 muscles that control fingers.
53. The word “tendons” in paragraph 3 most probably means ________.
A. parts that join a muscle to a bone B. parts that join fingers to the thumb
C. parts that join the heart to the veins D. parts that join the palm to a muscle
54. The word “it” in paragraph 4 refers to _________.
A. body B. blood
C. vein D. artery
55. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Our fingers are considered to be directed by a remote control.
B. The tendons help the palm move the fingers.
C. The palms pull the muscles in the fingers.
D. The remote control that directs fingers are the muscles in the palm.
56. What does the last sentence of the last paragraph mean?
A. Many other things are like hands.
B. There are no other animals that have hands.
C. Hands cannot help us invent things.
D. Hands are different from every invention in the world.
57. What would be another good title for the passage?
A. An Amazing Tool B. Thumbs!
C. The Fastest Animal D. Our Remote Controls
II. Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each question.
The Invention of the Periodic Table
If you are looking to gain a better understanding of the world around you, chemistry is the perfect subject to
study. It is an examination of matter, its properties, and its interactions with everything around it. Where
physics often deals with concepts and theories that are difficult to test and observe, chemistry principles can
easily be applied to medicine, cooking, and several other areas. At the heart of all these discoveries is one
vital chart that organizes elements based on their atomic number and chemical properties: the periodic table.
Although the first periodic table was published in 1869, it was a work in progress for hundreds, if not
thousands of years. Since ancient times, people have been fascinated with elements such as gold, tin, and
copper in their natural forms. They were mined and used to make jewellery, weapons, coins, and many other
things. Over time, people became more curious about these metals and how they were composed. In ancient
Greece, Aristotle and other philosophers claimed things were made from the elements of earth, water, fire,
and air. For years, this theory was accepted. Then people began to reevaluate this concept during the Age of
Enlightenment.
In 1661, Irish scientist Robert Boyle defined an element as something that “cannot be broken down into a
simpler substance by a chemical reaction”. Over a century later, French chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier
would publish the first modern textbook on chemistry. In it, he listed several substances which he believed
should be classified as elements into two categories: metals, and non-metals. Although his work wasn‟t
completely accurate, it represented a major step forward at the time. Over the next century, scientists started
to classify the elements into different groups depending on their properties and atomic weights. However, it is
Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev who is usually credited as the first person to make a periodic table.
Although other scientists had submitted tables, they were eventually rejected by the scientific community for
a lack of detail. Mendeleev arranged all of the elements according to their atomic mass. He was even smart
enough to leave empty spaces for elements which hadn‟t been discovered at the time. Although Mendeleev‟s
periodic table wasn‟t perfect, it set the format which is similar to the one used today.
58. What is the passage mainly about?
A. An important method of organization
B. The discovery of an important element
C. The life of the man who invented the periodic table
D. The habits of the world‟s greatest scientists
59. How is chemistry different from physics?
A. Chemistry involves a lot more mathematics.
B. Its effects are easier to see in the real world.
C. Physics isn‟t useful for anything at all.
D. There isn‟t much of a difference between them.
60. Why did people first become interested in elements?
A. Many people wanted to be like Mendeleev.
B. They became interested after the periodic table was invented.
C. Everyone in ancient times was interested in science.
D. They wanted to use metals to make things.
61. The word “credited” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to __________.
A. added
B. decided
C. believed
D. made
62. What did Robert Boyle do?
A. He wrote down every element on the Earth.
B. He wrote the first textbook about science.
C. He defined the word “element”.
D. He showed Mendeleev how to use a periodic table.
63. Why is Mendeleev usually given credit for inventing the periodic table?
A. He was surely the first person to create this kind of table.
B. He created the table and many other scientists approved of it.
C. He decided to name the table after himself.
D. He asked for the periodic table to be credited to him.
64. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Mendeleev left empty spaces for elements which hadn‟t been discovered at the time.
B. The work of Robert Boyle might be used as the base for further study of elements.
C. The concept of chemical elements in ancient Greece was not accepted at all.
D. Mendeleev arranged all of the elements according to their atomic weights.
65. It can infer from the passage that __________.
A. Lavoisier also published a periodic table of metals and non-metals.
B. the tables submitted by other scientists did not cover all the available elements
C. physics doesn‟t deal with matter and its properties
D. people have become interested in how metals and non-metals are composed recently
III. Read the following passage and choose the best answer to fill in each gap.
Can you imagine what life would be like if there were no telephones? You could not call up your friends on
the phone and talk to them. If a fire breaks (66)_____ in your house, you cannot call the fire bridgade. If
somebody is sick, you cannot call a doctor.
In our daily life we need to communicate with (67)_____. We do this mostly by speaking to other people and
listening to (68)_____ thay have to say to us, and when you close to them you can do this easily. However,
our voice will not travel very far even when we shout.
The man who (69)_____ this possible was Alexander Graham Bell, a Scotsman, born in Edinburgh in 1847.
Bell, a teacher of visible speech who later moved to Canada, (70)_____ all his spare time experimenting. So
enthusiastic was he in his research for a means for sending speech by electricity that he spent much time on
his day-to-day work and at one time was almost penniless.
66. A. out B. in C. up D. off
67. A. you B. one another C. them D. other
68. A. that B. this C. what D. which
69. A. brought B. did C. had D. made
70. A. spent B. cost C. wasted D. took
E. WRITING A PARAGRAPH
In 100-120 words, write a paragraph about some benefits of smartphones.
The following prompts might be helpful to you.
- entertaining oneself
- making friends all over the world
- helping get to destinations at ease