There are a variety of causes that can contribute directly or indirectly to the extinction of a species or groups of species. Just as each species is unique, and so is each extinction. The causes (i) _______ each are varied – some subtle and complex, others obvious and simple. Most simply, any species that is unable to (ii) _______ or reproduce in its environment, and unable to move to a new environment where it can do so, will (iii) _______ out and become extinct. Extinction of a species may come suddenly when a healthy species is wiped out completely, as when toxic pollution makes its entire diversity unlivable; or may occur gradually over thousands or millions of years, such as when a species gradually loses out in (iv) _______ lor food to better adapted competitors. The question of whether more extinction in the fossil record has been caused by evolution or by catastrophe is a subject of discussion. When taking about species extinction that has been raised, most experts concern with the (v) _______ of climate change and technological disasters. Currently, environmental groups and some governments are concerned about the extinction of species caused by human beings and are attempting to combat further extinctions through various ways of conservation programs. Humans can cause extinction of a species through overharvesting, pollution, habitat destruction, introduction of new predators and food competitors, overhunting, and other influences.

(iv)_____

There’s extensive historical evidence that our ancestors may have witnessed a massive invasion of Unidentified Flying Objects encroaching on their territories. These extraterrestrials are (i) _______ to have come into touch with the ancient earthly populations and helped them erect numerous magnificent structures or even establish glamorous empires. However, the present – day fascination with UFO was only instigated by the first widely (ii) _______ American sighting in Idaho in 1947. Since that time, countless other close encounters have been reported both by highly credible witnesses such as top – class pilots and less credible ones such as ordinary civilians. Thousands of people around the world maintain having come (iii) _______ to the visitors from outer space or to have been abducted for a scientific study inside their flying saucers. Although most of theseaccounts have been dismissed as fantasy or hallucinations, there’s (iv) _______ criticism from the public and media for ignoring the subject for too long. To many people, rejecting even the most inexplicable sightings or UFO encounters as luminous artificial objects, natural phenomena like auroras or even as meteorological balloons and satellites seems to be an irresponsible approach. Most of us would prefer to believe that there extraterrestrial guests are arriving from some remote galaxies to establish a peaceful relationship and possibly give us a fair warning against the consequences of our wasteful lifestyles. Yet, there’s another theory (v) _______ that the visitors’ attitude towards mankind isn’t so conciliatoryas the terrestrial populations. Doubtless, flying saucers still continue to be observed in many places of the world, triggering the imagination of UFO – maniacs. But, a large percentage of such sightings will remain beyond explanation until more convincing evidence is supplied by the true experts.

(iii)______-

He promised to deliver the stuff today and has let us ..........  again.

 Please meet me at the train station in _________ hour from now. 

 “Your speech this morning was just beyond my expectation.” “  ...................   ”

In Britain, the average young person now spends more money on games each year than on going to the cinema or renting videos. But is this (i) _______ a bad thing? For years, newspaper reports have been saying that children who spend too much lime playing computer games become unsociable, bad- tempered, even violent as a result. But new researeh, (ii) _______ out in both Europe and the USA, suggests that the opposite may be true. Indeed, playing some of the more complicated games may help people of all ages to improve certain skills. Researehers claim that this is because the games make the brain work harder in certain ways, like (iii) _______ sounds and movements quickly and identifying what they are. The fact that people play the games repeatedly means that they get a lot of practice in these skills which are therefore likely to become highly developed. Social skills may benefit, too. Researehers in Chicago think that fans of first- person shooter games (iv) _______ . “Counterstrike” are better than non­ players when it comes to building trust and co-operation, and that this helps them to make good friendships and become strong members of their communities. So rather than (v) _______ up computer games, perhaps young people need to spend more lime on them?

(iii)______

Choose a, b, c or d that best completes each unfinished sentence:

The ____ of the town itself comes as something of a surprise.

Some years ago, when I was working as an astronomer at the Greenwich Observatory in London I received a letter from an elderly lady living nearby who said: “When I was a girl we could sec so I many stars, but they’re not there anymore. Have they faded?” Walking down the hill on which the observatory stands, I (i) _____ the truth of what she said. Beneath me were all the lights of London and above me was the orange glow they send up into the night sky. But I could (ii)  _____ see any stars. If light pollution – as this effect is known – continues to increase at its present rate, our grandchildren will only get the chance to see the stars if they visit an observatory like the one in Greenwich. Light pollution is almost (iii) _____ for granted in most cities, and it is fast spreading into rural areas too. (iv) _____ recent research, almost half of all Europeans and two-thirds of North Americans can no longer see the milky Way. And this type of pollution doesn’t only destroy our view of the night sky. It also wastes money and causes environmental pollution. For example, a single light bulb, (v) _____ all year, releases around a quarter of a tone of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, making global warming even worse.

(v)_______

Choose the correct answer to each of the following questions.  "The doctor said to my father that ______ he ate lots of fatty food, he  would increase his chance of developing heart disease."

Child workers, some as young as 10, have been found working in a textile factory in conditions described as close to slavery to produce clothes that appear destined for one of the major high street retailers. Speaking to a British newspaper, the children described long hours of (i) _______ work and threats and beatings. The company said it was unaware that clothing intended for its stores had been improperly (ii) _______  to a sweatshop that used child labour. It further announced the alleged breaches of the ethical code it imposed on manufacturers three years ago. The discovery of these children working in appalling conditions in the Shahpur Jat area of Delhi has renewed concerns about the (iii) _______ by some large retail chains of their garment production to India, recognized by the United Nations as one of the world’s hotspots for child labour. According to one estimate, over 20 per cent of India’s economy is (iv) _______ on children, which comes to a total of 50 million youngster under 14 working. Consumers in the West should not only be demanding answers from retailers about how theứ (v) _______ are produced but also be looking into their consciences at how they spend their money and whether cheap prices in the west are worth the suffering caused to so many children.

(iii)_____

The Penny Black is the name of the world’s postage stamp. It was introduced by the U.K. in 1840 and is perhaps the most famous stamp ever issued. It has a (i) _____ of the young Queen Victoria and because of its colour, and its price of one penny, it is known as the “Penny Black”. Before 1840, postage rates for delivery of letters in the U.K. depended on the (ii) _____ the letter had to travel and the number of sheets of paper used. Furthermore, at that time it was not possible to pay for your letter before you sent it. The postage had to be paid by the receiver (iii) _____ than the sender of the letter. The Penny Black changed everything: al the rate of one penny, letters that did not weigh more than half an ounce could be sent to any destination in the U.K. Nowadays, Penny Black stamps are not all that rare although they are (iv) _____ regarded by stamp collectors. About 68 million of these stamps were issued between 1840 and 1841,and it is thought that about 1.5 million of these survive today. The price of the stamp today varies according to whether it has been used or not and its condition. A line used copy can be bought for around 77 pound or less, while unused examples are quite rare and sold for 2,000 pound or more. To honour the U.K. for having issued the world’s first postage stamp, the Universal Postal Union has made an exception regarding its rule that the name of the country must (v) _____ on a stamp. No British stamp to date has ever had the country name on it.

(ii)______

In Britain these days, it seems even very young children hope to wear a Calvin Klein watch or Nike trainers. Fashion experts claim that brand names have become so important that their followers (i) _____  to be able to buy the company’s products no matter what. In an (ii) _____  to get people to buy, these companies’ symbols are used so extensively that they have become more important than the products themselves. In a recent survey of British teenagers, only one out of 60 would admit that they did not own any designer clothes of the (iii) _____ fashion. The survey also revealed that a staggering 60 percent are willing to spend the same (iv)    of money on one designer item as on two non – designer items which might do harm to their image. Some people argue that on the whole, designer labels offer a guarantee of quality, but 35 per cent said they would rather buy counterfeit designer wear than a non – label item of clothing. The survey suggests that we have less real choice in what we buy than we might think. The media make the decisions about what is in fashion, and so a whole generation is trying to (v) _____ smart by wearing identically labeled trainers, jeans, shirts and sweatshirts.

(iv)______

Sainsbury’s, one of Britain’s leading supermarkets, are deeply concerned about (i) _____  out theirresponsibilities regarding the environment. They claim that many of their customers want to buy products that don’t have a negative environmental (ii) _____. Due to this, more than 50 per cent of their own­ brand products are environmentally friendly. Furthermore, Sainsbury’s have been using recycled cardboard packaging for years on such things as breakfast cereals and biscuits. Many of their stores also offer customers the opportunity to recycle their own packaging. They have (iii) _____ them with special recycling bins for paper, glass and even shoes. These bins are supplied by the local authority and are in display at the front of most major stores. (iv) _____ from many other environmental projects which they are involved in, Sainsbury’s also encourage their customers not to use plastic carrier bags, with their Bag for life and Penny Back offers. In the first scheme, the orange reusable Bag for life bags cost lOp, and when they wear out, customers can take them back to the store and (v) _____ a free bag in return. In the second scheme, customers get a penny back for every plastic carrier bag they reuse. Via this second scheme, they gave 640,000 penny back to customers last year, of which more than half ended up in Sainsbury’s charity boxes.

(iv)______

lí’you’re interested in having the trip of a lifetime, but also doing something useful at the same time, then why not try joining a Grccnforcc expedition as a volunteer. Grccnforcc, which was (i) _____ in 1997, is an international researeh agency that gathers information about the wildlife and natural habitats in various parts of the world. There is a qualified biologist in (ii) _____ of each team of volunteers and these carry out surveys all year round in some of the world’s remotest and most beautiful places. Volunteers come from all walks of life. The minimum age is 18 years, but there is no upper age (iii)  _____. No previous experience is necessary as Greenforce provides full training in animal identification and survey methods. You’ll need to be somebody who enjoys the outdoor life, however, as working in remote locations can be challenging. You’ll also need to be (iv) _____ about wildlife and prepared to learn a lot about the place you visit. Each expedition lasts for ten weeks, and training begins in the UK with a residential weekend where you can get a taste of expedition life and meet up with some of your team mates, as (v) _____ as learning about first- aid and basic survival skills. Each volunteer contributes 2,550 towards the cost of the expedition, but past volunteers say it is worth every penny.

(iv)_______

Tourism is the fastest-growing industry in the world. As well as bringing prosperity to an area, however, it can also destroy the qualities which attracted visitors in the first place. If it is not carefully controlled, tourism can also (i) _____ problems for local people, as is shown by various examples from around the world. When Phuket in Thailand first became a popular tourist (ii) _____, people there were unable to cope with the increase in rubbish that 2 million visitors a year produce and a huge incinerator had to be built in the countryside in water consumption, (iii) _____ many local people to walk considerable distances to get clean water. And Egypt’s desert landscapes are being destroyed by the litter dropped by tourists. Moving sands are difficult to clean, and the white desert to the west of the Nile Valley may be permanently (iv) _____. It’s encouraging, therefore, to read about the efforts of certain tour companies who are organising environmental holidays in some of the worst hit areas. Regular tours now go to places such as the Himalayas and Atlas mountains In North Africa with the aim of combining a bit of sightseeing with the chance to help (v) _____ some of the mess left by previous visitors.

(ii)_____

Dad turned on _____ radio to listen to _____ news. A. a/a B. a/the C. the/the D. the / a 

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.

(i)_______

Choose the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the following word(s). "warned"

On Friday night, some of our friends came to the party and ...... for the weekend.

Earthquakes are amongst the most destructive natural disasters. They usually (i) _____ without any warning and result in a great (ii) _____ of life and an enormous demolition of buildings. Additionally, they may cause devastating landslides or create gigantic tidal waves which, in fact, are colossal walls of water smashing into seashores with such force that they are (iii) _____ of destroying coastal cities.

However, the vast majority of fatalities and serious injuries come about when buildings collapse. Most frequently, the earthquake lasts 30 to 60 seconds, so usually there is no time to avert the mortal (iv) _____ once the shaking starts. The savage forces of an earthquake trigger (v) _____ a complex chain reaction in the building structure when it is shaken, lifted, pushed or pulled. A building’s height, its shape and construction materials are the most significant factors deciding about the survival or collapse of the structure and, consequently, about the life or death of its inhabitants.

(iv)_______

What do you think about his new car? 

" .............................."   .