Vocabulary

1. Complete the sentences with the correct words. There is one space for each
letter.

1. We’re going to see a live p _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of our favourite band!

performance

2. My parents usually s _ _ _ _ _ _ that I should do some homework at weekends.

suggest

3. In an earthquake, buildings can sometimes completely c _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

collapse

4. To win a car race in a video game, you have to o _ _ _ _ _ _ _ all the cars in front.
overtake

5. I don’t like books with a predictable p _ _ _. I prefer surprises!

plot

6. The main c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ in this story is a really interesting person.

character

7. I need to ask for p _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ from my parents to go to the concert – they

can be quite strict.
permission

8. My favourite singer is Adele. She’s got amazing musical t _ _ _ _ _.

talent

2. Match the two parts of the sentences.

1. __ I’m not sure when school

a. up this term.
breaks
up this term.

b. out a new sport – I might give

2. __ I often fall
skiing a go.
out with my older sister and we don’t speak for weeks.

3. __ The doctor says I need to cut c. out with my older sister and we
 don’t speak for weeks.
out all nuts from my diet due to my allergy.

d. out all nuts from my diet due to my

4. __ This fish has gone
allergy.
off, so don’t eat it.

5. __ I’ve got to heat e. in my homework tomorrow.

up some food for my dinner tonight.

6. __ I must remember to hand f. up some food for my dinner tonight.

in my homework tomorrow.

7. __ I want to try g. off, so don’t eat it.

out a new sport – I might give skiing a go.

8. __ I really can’t figure h. out how to answer this question.

out how to answer this question.

3. Choose the correct option to complete the sentences.

1. I get / go on really well with my older brother.

get

2. Yesterday I had to stay on / behind to talk to my teacher.

behind

3. The weather’s bad, so our teacher’s put off / away the football match.
off

4. Everyone says I take / identify after my father but I think I’m more like my mother.
take

5. In class yesterday, I had to try / give out the books to everyone.

give

6. My sister went through / over a difficult time when she was ill as a child.
through

7. The boys in the school team used to pick / get on me because I was the smallest
in the team.
pick

8. We haven’t brought many sandwiches for the picnic, so we’ll just have to fill / eat
up on fruit.
fill

4. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the words in capital letters.

1. My mum made an arrangement to talk to my teacher tomorrow. ARRANGE

2. I’ve got a lot of preparations to do, to get everything ready for my holiday.
PREPARE

3. I accidentally phoned my brother instead of my mum! ACCIDENT

4. The garden was in complete darkness, and I fell over my bike lying on the path.
DARK

5. My grandma’s going to the hospital for some treatment on Monday. TREAT

6. There was a long family discussion last night about where to go on holiday.
DISCUSS

7. Reading a lot of science fiction books isn’t necessarily a bad thing. NECESSARY

8. My grandfather has an amazing collection of old stamps. COLLECT

Grammar

5. Choose the correct options to complete the conversation.

Sonia: Hi Alice: Where (1) do you go / are you going now?

Alice: Hi Sonia. Tom (2) has just invited / was just inviting me to go round to his
house. (3) Do you want / Are you wanting to come with me?
Sonia: Great, thanks! Who else (4) goes / is going?

Alice: I’m not sure. I (5) was studying / studied in the library when I saw him, so I
(6) have been / was too busy to ask him.

Sonia: (7) Do we need / Did we need to take anything with us?

Alice: No, Tom says his mum (8) has already made / was already making some
food for everyone!

Sonia: Great!

1 are you going

2 has just invited
3 Do you want
4 is going
5 was studying
6 was
7 Do we need
8 has already made

6. Complete the sentences with the words given below.

as | never | since | such | the | used | wasn’t | who

1. It’s at least six years since our neighbours came to live next door.

2. I don’t play football now, but I used to play a lot when I was a child.

3. My brother isn’t quite as tall as our dad.

4. I’ve had such a busy day that I’m really tired now.

5. Barry wasn’t able to meet us in town yesterday. He had to stay at home and study.

6. I’ve never been to California, but it sounds fantastic!

7. My cousin Paul, who lives in the next street, plays video games all the time.

8. This laptop is the most expensive thing I’ve ever bought!

7. Choose the correct option to complete the sentences.

1. Who you are waiting for / are you waiting for / do you wait for now?
are you waiting for

2. I study / am studying / was studying maths this term. It’s quite difficult!
am studying

3. We just have got back / have just got back / just getting back from our holiday in
the US.
have just got back

4. I saw John while I have cycled / cycled / was cycling home.

was cycling

5. We live / lived / have lived in London for two years before we came here.
lived

6. Don’t take the main road into town today. They repair / are repairing / repaired the
road.
are repairing

7. My brother could / was able to / might be able to find a job in a bank last year.
was able to

8. Sorry, but I can’t / wasn’t able / won’t be able to come to the concert with you
tomorrow.
won’t be able

8. Read the email and choose the correct word for each space.

To: Josh

From: Billy

Hi Josh,
Just to let you know about the homework for next week. I know you (1) are / were /
have been away from school yesterday when the teacher (2) has told / tells / told us
all about it.

You have to do some research about an ancient natural disaster like a volcano or an
earthquake, for example, and then write about 500 words about it. You (3) able / be
able / will be able to find lots of information easily on the internet. Of course, some
disasters were a good deal more damaging (4) that / as / than others. Vesuvius, (5)
which / that / where is the one I chose, was (6) such / too / so big that there are
pages and pages of research about it. So probably (7) the smaller / small / the
smallest the topic, the less reading you’ll have to do! Yesterday I (8) could / managed
/ was managing to write two whole pages, so I’m quite proud of myself!

Good luck, anyway!

Billy

1 were
2 told
3 will be able
4 than
5 which
6 so
7 the smaller
8 managed

Listening

9. Listen to two friends called Jess and Charlie talking about a music festival.
Complete the sentences with one or two words.

1. Jess tells Charlie that the concert tickets cost £ 5.75 for students.

2. Jess explains that she got her ticket from a book shop in town.

3. Jess says that her favourite kind of music is rock.

4. Jess particularly likes the lead singer in a local band that’s playing.

5. Jess tells Charlie that the name of the band’s new album is Volcano.

TAPESCRIPT
Charlie: Hi Jess! How are you doing? Are you going to the town music festival this
weekend?

Jess: Oh, hi Charlie. Yes, I certainly am! I’m looking forward to it. How about you?

Charlie: Well, I haven’t actually got a ticket yet. I need to get my act together. How
much are they?

Jess: Well, someone told me the most expensive were £15.00, but I haven’t seen
any at that price. Anyway, there are definitely some available at £10.50, but you can
get one for £5.75, cos we’re still at school. Just don’t forget to take your ID card, or
you won’t get the reduction.

Charlie: And where can you get tickets from? Can I buy them online or do I have to
go all the way to the park where the festival is?

Jess: No, you can’t buy them on the Internet. There are a couple of places in town
where you can buy them. I managed to buy mine from the book shop in the town
centre, but they’ve sold out now. So try the library. They have tickets for all events in
the town, and it’s closer than the leisure centre – they may have some there too.

Charlie: Thanks! And do you know anything about the programme? What kind of
bands are playing?

Jess: Well, there are some jazz bands on Saturday afternoon.

Charlie: Oh, maybe I should go then. That was the first type of music I learnt to play
– and I’m still learning.

Jess: OK. Well, I’ve decided to go on Sunday afternoon because there are lots of
rock bands performing, and I really like that kind of music best.

Charlie: Really? OK, that sounds cool.

Jess: There’s one local band playing too, Firestorm. Their live performances are
always brilliant.

Charlie: Oh, yes, I know them. They’re great. OK, can I come to see them with you,
then?

Jess: Of course! It’ll be good, I mean, the guitarist is great and the drummer can play
well too. But their lead singer is by far the best musician I’ve ever heard.

Charlie: Yeah, I agree. And they released an album recently, didn’t they? Let’s see,
what’s it called ... Storm.

Jess: No, that’s their first album. This one’s called Volcano. It’s already in the charts.

Charlie: Hmm to be honest, I liked their earlier one better. I’ve listened to it loads.
OK, well, I’ll meet you outside the post office beforehand and we can go together.
About 2 pm?

Jess: Great!

Reading

10. Read the article. Decide if the sentences are true (T) or false (F).

The joy of writing

By Sally Ramsden

I’ve been writing stories for about three years now, and I want to become a
professional writer in the future. Since I started, I’ve found that more and more
people are writing their own stories and poems. Many attend classes, too, led by
established writers, to learn how to improve their techniques. I’ve certainly found the
ones I’ve attended were a useful way to make progress. There’s an increasingly wide
range of courses available now, too. Some of them charge a considerable amount of
money to attend, although many others are more reasonably priced.

I’ve also found some excellent websites that writers with not much experience can go
to for help. They explain how to plan your story and develop your characters, and
also tell you how not to end up with very boring stories where everyone can guess
the ending – the hardest thing for many new writers to learn. Anyway, it’s important to
keep practising, and make a note of ideas.

More people publish their own writing directly on the internet, too, rather than trying
to get it published in printed book form. However, it does have disadvantages. For
example, less experienced authors usually need a friend or family member to check
their work and suggest improvements before it’s uploaded. I remember when I first
started, I was so keen to share my work that there were spelling and punctuation
errors in a piece I published, which I should have noticed. I must admit that I have
difficulty spotting errors in the texts I write, so I have them thoroughly checked.

So if you’re keen to publish your work, look for websites that publish the kind of
writing you do. Look at other writers’ work – and what people are saying about it.
Then, when you feel brave enough, upload your own work and invite people to give
their opinions. You’ll find, as I have, that people won’t always like what you’ve written,
but that doesn’t matter to me. What’s important is getting their suggestions on how to
improve, and acting on them. Take it from me – it’ll be worth it. So – what are you
waiting for? Go for it!

1. Sally thinks the creative writing classes she attended were helpful. _____
T

2. Sally says most writing courses cost more or less the same price. _____
F (some charge a considerable amount, others are reasonably priced)

3. Sally thinks the biggest problem is creating interesting characters. _____

F (she thinks the hardest thing is creating interesting stories which don’t have a
predictable ending)

4. Sally doesn’t always notice mistakes in her own work. _____

T

5. Sally gets upset by negative online comments about her writing. _____
F (it doesn’t matter to her)

Writing

11. Your friend Jo had a party last Saturday, but you couldn’t go. Write an
email...

• apologising to Jo
• explaining why you couldn’t go
• asking about the party
• suggesting something you could both do together soon.

Now write your email. Write about 100 words.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Students’ own answers

Speaking

12. A Write the words in the correct order to make questions. Then think about
your answers to the questions.

B Ask and answer the questions with a partner.

1. know / good / in / town / places / eat / to / Do / your / any / you / ?

____________________________________________________________
Do you know any good places to eat in town?

2. healthily / best / What’s / way / the / to / eat / ?

____________________________________________________________
What’s the best way to eat healthily?

3. country / recommend / you / any / from / food / Can / your / ?

____________________________________________________________
Can you recommend any food from your country?

4. cook / how / best / learn / to / way / the / What’s / to / ?

____________________________________________________________
What’s the best way to learn how to cook?

5. good / Do / shows / any / about / know / cooking / you / TV / ?

____________________________________________________________
Do you know any good TV shows about cooking?