Every country has its own traditions, some of which have existed for centuries. In my opinion, we should do everything possible to preserve them. Some people think that in today’s high-tech world, traditional celebrations are too old-fashioned and (i) _______ to our lives. However, events such as Carnival, are important, as they bring communities together and make US think about other people and not just computers. (ii) _______ argument against traditional festivals is that they are expensive to organise. To some extent this is true, particularly when there are firework (iii) _______ or parades. On the other hand, it is a small price to pay for brightening up our lives with entertainment and colour. Moreover, celebrations like the ‘Fallas’ in my home town of Valencia attract many tourists and their money. Finally, although 1 agree that some traditional customs (iv) _______ their original significance, they can provide an opportunity for US to learn about our past. For example, Bonfire Night teaches British children about a particular period of their country’s history. To conclude, traditional celebrations are a source of great pleasure and interest, and they are certainly (v) _______ keeping

(i)_____-

Maria Mutola is a great athlete off the field as well. She has started the Lurdcs Mutola Foundation. This charity program (i) ________ money for the development of sports and the education of young people in Africa. It also works to stop the spread of AIDS and HIV in poor countries, and to have (ii) _________  African children protected against such dangerous childhood diseases as measles and polio. Maria Mutola has also donated money to build new social houses in Maputo (iii) ________ a modern outdoor running track. She is also involved (iv) ________  promoting sports without drugs and doping. For her achievements, Maria Mutola has been made a youth ambassador for the United Nations in 1993. She also (v) ________ the official Olympic Flag at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

(ii)______

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the blanks.
The Black Cauldron, for example, failed, mainly because it was too _______ for children and too childish for adults

The town of Bunol in Spain is famous for La Tomatina, the world’s largest vegetable fight. The event takes place during a week-long celebration (i) _______ festivities and with even greater anticipation for the battle ahead. La Tomatina started during the 1940s, when (ii) _______ of friends started a tomato fight and passers-by got dragged into it. From that day forward, the fiesta has been celebrated annually and is expected to draw record numbers this time around. The reason for the fight has never been established and it hardly matters since the point is fun. La Tomatina has blossomed into a huge fiesta that coincides with the festival for the town’s patron saint. This is partly in an effort to draw more tourism into Bunol, and at the same time many more targets. The night before La Tomatina, the narrow’ streets are filled with tomatoes, and in a much (iii) _______ form than the next day. No one can do battle on an empty stomach so huge pans filled with delicious paella are on offer. Then, early Wednesday morning, shopkeepers set about covering windows and doors in preparation for the mess. Large trucks rumble up the streets to arrive in the square and be cheered by the 20,000 strong crows. Men on top of the tracks then begin the attack (iv) _______ soft tomatoes from the four comers of Spain. The victims retaliate against the trackers, each other, and anyone else that strays within their range. When all the tomatoes have been demolished, (v) _______ heads to the river to clean it all off.

(v)____

Are the years you (i) ________ at school the best years of your life? Personally, I found most lessons rather uninteresting. We had to sit at our desks in silence and (ii) ________ attention. The teachers used to  write on the blackboard and ask US difficult questions. We also had to do lots of homework, and (iii) ________ it in on time. We had to wear a school uniform, and wc had to obey lots of rules. I left school as soon as I could and started work. I read books al the public library, and later I decided to (iv) ________ college. I really enjoyed studying because I was older and knew that I wanted some (v) ________  When I was at school, I was just the wrong age!

(iii)_____

Work engineers are (i) _______ riding with drivers, timing everything from stops at traffic lights, to wait at customer’s doorway, to stairway climbs, to coffee break. And they are not (ii) _______  to pointing out the occasional inefficiency. Additionally, supervisors ride with the least good drivers, noting how they work and constantly (iii) _______ them until their work is up to standard. The (iv) _______ of all this work engineering is efficiency, and UPS has been called one of the most efficient companies anywhere. Il’s also a highly profitable company. Most drivers take the regimentation in stride: many show pride in meeting the UPS standards each day. Others, however, feel that they are constantly being pushed, that it is impossible for them to (v) _______ at work. UPS officials claim that the standards provide accountability. And, they say, employees who work according to UPS standards should feel less tired al the end of the day.

(iv)____

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word or phrase that is OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined part in each of the following questions: Fruit and vegetables grew in abundance on the island. The islanders even exported the surplus. 

When the war ended, Romania became a Communist country. For 50 years, people suffered (i) _______ the Communist rule. There was (ii) _______ food, no electricity or hot water in villages and small cities. Many important pieces of Romanian literature and art from the Golden Age were destroyed. People were (iii) _______ in jail; others ran illegally across the border to (iv) _______ countries. On December 16th, 1998, Romanians had had enough. There was a bloody revolution, the government was overthrown, and new elections (v) _______. Today, Romanians are trying to rebuild their future into a free country.

(v)___

Over the years, not all of the American boats have been the fastest but their maneuverability, good sails and construction have been the keys to success because in the America’s Cup not always (i) _______ the waves splash gently nor docs the summer sun shine down romantically upon the huge yachts racing through rugged ocean waters navigating buoys to determine the winner. The winner of the previous America’s Cup race and the challenger selected to race the previous winner need to navigate the deep, and sometimes rough and unpredictable salt waters of the ocean (ii)      tranquil and flatter waters of inland lakes. And it is the ease of maneuvering and the exacting ratios of weight, balance, and sail volume which can determine the winner. Throughout the years, the types of boats raced in the America’s Cup have changed but the challenge and possibility of fame for winning the competition is still alluring and has not changed. In 1983, the Australians took away the Cup from the Americans and the races left the American waters for the Australian waters. After that, the American waters have again been host to racers as well as European waters (iii) _______ the coast of Spain.

Regardless of (iv)________ the race is held or who the competitors or the winners are, the America’s Cup continues to be the oldest continual racing competition – and (v)  _______  prestigious

(iv)______

During the last 400 years, most scientists have based on mathematics in their development of their inventions or discoveries. However, one great British scientist, Michael Faraday, did not make (i) _______ of mathematics. Faraday, the son of a poor blacksmith, was born in London in 1971 and had no (ii)  _______  beyond reading and writing. In 1812, Faraday was hired as a bottle washer by a great chemist Humphry Davy. Later, Faraday became a greater scientist than Davy, making the last years of Davy’s life embittered (iii) _______ jealousy. Faraday made the first (iv) _______  motor in 1821, a device that used electricity to produce movement. Then Faraday became interested in the relationship between electricity and magnetism. In 1831, he discovered that when a magnet is moved near a wire, electricity flows in the wire. With this discovery, he produced a machine for making electricity called a dynamo. Faraday then went on to show how electricity affects chemical substances. Because Faraday believed that money should be given to the poor, when he grew old, he was destitute. (v) _______, Queen Victoria rewarded him for his discoveries by giving him a stipend and a house. He died in 1867.

(ii)______

Maria Mutola is a great athlete off the field as well. She has started the Lurdcs Mutola Foundation. This charity program (i) ________ money for the development of sports and the education of young people in Africa. It also works to stop the spread of AIDS and HIV in poor countries, and to have (ii) _________  African children protected against such dangerous childhood diseases as measles and polio. Maria Mutola has also donated money to build new social houses in Maputo (iii) ________ a modern outdoor running track. She is also involved (iv) ________  promoting sports without drugs and doping. For her achievements, Maria Mutola has been made a youth ambassador for the United Nations in 1993. She also (v) ________ the official Olympic Flag at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

(i)______

Maria Mutola is a great athlete off the field as well. She has started the Lurdcs Mutola Foundation. This charity program (i) ________ money for the development of sports and the education of young people in Africa. It also works to stop the spread of AIDS and HIV in poor countries, and to have (ii) _________  African children protected against such dangerous childhood diseases as measles and polio. Maria Mutola has also donated money to build new social houses in Maputo (iii) ________ a modern outdoor running track. She is also involved (iv) ________  promoting sports without drugs and doping. For her achievements, Maria Mutola has been made a youth ambassador for the United Nations in 1993. She also (v) ________ the official Olympic Flag at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

(iii)______

Many birds will, in the normal course of their migrations, flying more than three thousand miles to reach their winter homes.

Many European countries had heard about the wealth and (i) _______ of the Aztecs. The Spanish King sent his ships across the Atlantic to bring home the famous Aztec gold. Thus many Spanish sailors and soldiers went (ii) _______  the New World and found America. These adventurers were called ‘conquistadors’ because they were ruthless and cruel. They only cared about money, not people, and destroyed (iii) _______ civilizations to get (iv) _______ they wanted. One of these conquistadors was Hernando Cortes. He arrived in Cuba in 1511, but (v) _______ got in trouble with the Cuban governor, Diego Velasquez, who eventually sent him far away to find the Aztec gold

(iii)_____

“Being in space is an exhilarating experience,” recalls astronaut Buzz Aldrin, member of the three-man crew which made history nearly 50 years ago when they (i) _______ in being the first melt ever to set foot on the Moon. ‘Just being able to float around is amazing. Unfortunately, the space suits were quite restrictive so we weren’t able to move about very easily. They made the job of collecting moon rock and soil to bring back to Earth much more difficult. The surface of the Melon is covered in a (ii) _______ and because there isn’t any wind or weather on the Moon, Neil’s famous first footprint should still be there until it is disturbed by other visitors. “On our (iii) _______ to Earth, we were put in quarantine. It was still not known whether life existed on the Moon and it was feared that organisms from the Moon could infect animals and plants on Earth. Hopefully, in the next 25 years man will be setting up (iv) _______ bases on the Moon or even on Mars. I don’t sec much point in just sending astronauts there. Instead of short trips, which are not a very efficient allocation of resources, we should be sending people there to stay. “In time, although possibly not in my lifetime, people will be born on Mars. They will be our “Martians”, (v)_____________ _______ the green creatures that science fiction writers write about.”

(iii)______

In retrospect, it is believed that the land (i) _______ by Hcrjolfsson was indeed part of North America, and the first European to actually touch its grounds was (ii) _______ other than the Red’s son, Leif Ericsson. (iii) _______ to follow in his father’s footsteps and become as respected as his parents, Leif Ericsson left Greenland (iv) _______  1,000 AD and sailed southwest towards the promised land.

Evidence unearthed at the arehaeological site of L’Anse aux Meadows proves that the Vikings had landed at three points of the eastern American coast, which (v) _______ termed “Markland” or “forest land” in today’s Labrador, “Hcluland” or “slab-land” after Baffin Island’s rocky landscape, and finally “Vinland” or “vine-land”, located either in New England or

(ii)___

Vincent Van Gogh is a very famous painter from the 19th century. Van Gogh’s paintings are sold at very high prices because many collectors want his paintings. But unfortunately, when he was (i) _______ he did not have a happy life. Van Gogh was from a poor family in Holland and lived (ii) _______ his life at home. He lived a rather sad and (iii) _______ life. He drew things that he could sec cither around the quiet town of his parents’ home or outside his window. This was why he painted things like the sky, his room and even himself. Van Gogh once cut off his own car after drawing a picture of himself. He cut it off to show the person that said the ear in Van Gogh’s painting was not correct. It was very (iv) _______ him to do such a thing. Van Gogh was also (v) _______ a crazy man. He really did become crazy, and was sent to a mental hospital. Sadly, he killed himself when he was just 37.

(v)____

In Poland, there are many customs at Easter: for example, the ‘blessing basket’, (i) _______ (amongother things) coloured eggs, bread, salt and white sausages. (ii) _______ in the basket has a meaning: the eggs represent Christ; the bread, salt and sausages, good health and enough money in the coming year. The family Easter breakfast on Sunday morning is (iii) _______ important as Christmas dinner for Poles.

And there is one more Polish tradition connected with Easter Monday: ‘watering’. People throw water (iv) _______ each other, and this is a (v) _______ for good health, too. Even strangers on the street are not safe from a bath of cold -water on Easter Monday!

(iii)_____

Maria Mutola is a great athlete off the field as well. She has started the Lurdcs Mutola Foundation. This charity program (i) ________ money for the development of sports and the education of young people in Africa. It also works to stop the spread of AIDS and HIV in poor countries, and to have (ii) _________  African children protected against such dangerous childhood diseases as measles and polio. Maria Mutola has also donated money to build new social houses in Maputo (iii) ________ a modern outdoor running track. She is also involved (iv) ________  promoting sports without drugs and doping. For her achievements, Maria Mutola has been made a youth ambassador for the United Nations in 1993. She also (v) ________ the official Olympic Flag at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

(iv)______

An interesting form of (i) _______ throughout the British Empire in the 18th-19th centuries. At that time, England had established many colonies all around the globe. But these places were very far away. If people came to live there, they did not return to England ever again since traveling (ii) _______ ship was rather long and dangerous. Englishmen who settled in such far-off colonies often found (iii) _______ alone. The only women around were the natives. But (iv) _______ and Dutch saw no trouble in marrying native women, Englishmen were very conservative. They would write letters home and ask relatives or neighbors to send them a local wife. Many women had no dowry so they agreed to the transaction. The man would pay for their ship voyage to the colonies and the woman would work all her life to pay him back. It is believed that these marriages were (v) _______ of all.

(v)______

A: “Would you like something to drink?” -B: “_________.”