GRADE 8

Part 1.  Reading

The people, described below, all want to find somewhere to stay.

On the other page there are descriptions of eight hotels.

Decide which hotel would be the most suitable for the following people.

For questions 1- 5, put the correct letter (A-H) on your answer sheet.

1        Felipe and Gabriela want to spend the weekend in the city centre near the railway station with their one-year-old son. They want to be able to walk everywhere. They plan to eat in restaurants.

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2        Giorgos wants to be able to swim, but is not interested in other sports. He’d like to spend the weekend somewhere quiet in the country. The hotel must have a car park.

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3        Monica would like to stay somewhere in the countryside where there are organised activities so that she can meet other people. As she has some work to do, e-mail facilities must be available.

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4        Julia and Robert are travelling by car and want to park at the hotel. They don’t want to be further than ten kilometers from the city. They want to swim every day and have dinner at the hotel.

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5        Adam and Barbara need to stay somewhere in the city which provides lunch and dinner and has a car park. Their three children all enjoy sport.

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A     The Star Hotel is a five-minute drive from the city centre, and all rooms have their own television and telephone. Guests can eat all their meals here – breakfast, lunch and dinner. The hotel has its own large car park. There is a gym and two tennis courts. Entertainment is available at weekends.

В     York House is between two farms. The hotel arranges dances and other events which you can attend if you wish, or you can walk in the gardens and enjoy the scenery. It is especially popular with people travelling alone and also has a fully equipped business room and internet café. All meals are available on request.

C      The Grange Hotel is outside the city, but hotel staff can collect you from the station and arrange trips in the area by coach. It is close to all the main roads and has a large car park. Although only breakfast is served, there are two good restaurants nearby. Fax, e-mail and photocopying are available.

D      Rosewood Guesthouse is about one kilometer from the city centre. It is easy to reach the city’s shopping and entertainment areas or drive into the surrounding countryside. There is a swimming pool in the next street. Dinner is available if booked in advance, and there is a large car park.

E       The Blue Lion Hotel is on the south side of the city and is just a short taxi ride from the railway station and places of interest. Breakfast only is provided. Events such as talks and show are organized every evening and are popular both with local people as well as the hotel’s guests. Free parking is available in nearly streets.

F       Twenty kilometers from the city, in the middle of the hills, Blantyre Manor was previously a family home. It is a peaceful place to spend a few days, with very good sports facilities including golf, tennis and a swimming pool. There is a restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, and plenty of car-parking space.

G      Victoria House is a family hotel five minutes’ walk from the railway and tram station and close to all the city’s facilities. It is in the city centre near the shopping mall, where a range of restaurants is available. No car parking or meals except breakfast. Bicycles can be hired from reception.

H      Just five kilometers from the city centre, The Spring Park Motel is very near the motorway with plenty of parking space, so it is convenient for drivers, although it is in the countryside. Meals are not available, but only two kilometers along the motorway there is an excellent café where breakfast, lunch and dinner are available.

Part 2.  Reading

·      There are two mixed texts below.

·      Separate the two texts.

·      Arrange each text in the logical order.

A.    "How did you find your way here being in this town for the first time and not knowing it, and not even using a map?" asked his uncle who was still very surprised at his nephew.

B.    When the ticket inspector came and asked him for his ticket, the old writer began to look for it in his pockets, in his bag and suitcase. He could not find his ticket. He looked in the book he was reading, on the seat he was sitting. But in vein. The ticket was nowhere.

C.    Michael looked around. Then he took a piece of paper out of his pocket and had a brief look at it. The address of his uncle's home was written on it. He looked at it once more, then he crossed the street and stopped in front of the new building. He came in and soon happened to be in his uncle's apartment.

D.    It was an express train from London to Edinburgh. The compartment was spacious, the service was a first-class one, the people were pleasant and did not annoy him with the silly questions like: "Ah, you must be the person everybody knows, aren't you?" Looking out of the window he could see a picturesque landscape: carefully tended green plains with blue lakes like saucers, and a blue mass of sky above with yellow, warm and kind sun. To cut a long story short he obviously liked the trip.

E.    It was the first time when Michael, a fifteen-year-old boy, went to see his uncle who had moved to a new town after he had married. It was 278 miles away and the boy decided to hitchhike to see the neighbouring countryside, to develop his communicational skills talking with drivers and, which had a great importance for him, to save an amount of money he had earned delivering newspapers every morning during the school year.

F.    The ticket inspector stared at writer straight, the other passengers started the throw suspicious looks at him, and the writer himself was in despair. "Anyway I must find my ticket," said he. "I do want to know where I'm going."

G.    "Please, do me a favour, don’t worry," said the ticket inspector. "You might have forgotten where you have put it. Take it easy. I can wait. I'll ask for it at the next station." But at the next station it was all the same.

H.    He made that distance in quite a short period of time. The last vehicle was a truck, which let him off at the main street of the town. The boy thanked the truck driver and wished him a good luck. The town was modern and not large like many all round the country.

I.     "No wonder," was the answer. "We live in a wonderful country which is very vast, with very friendly people always ready to help you. Just ask the people and they'll explain you how to get to a place."

J.     Once upon a time an old writer who was extremely popular in England was travelling by train

Part 3. Use of English

Read the text below and choose the correct word for each space. For questions 1-15, choose the answer A, B, C or D which you think fits best according to the text. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Example:

(0)    A concern B fear C worry D doubt

Canada is a massive country full of wide-open spaces. With scenery that is truly magnificent, it is without (0) D one of the great unspoilt areas of the world. If you have the (1) .…, make sure you go to Niagara Falls, which are the top attraction in North America and one of the most spectacular (2) .... anywhere. Visitors who are not easily (3) .... can take a boat ride to the edge of the roaring falls, almost right (4) .... the massive torrent of white water. Or walk through rock-cut tunnels for a terrific close-up look from behind the falls, a view familiar from the many film (5) .... taken there.These tunnels are as near as anyone is likely to want to (6) .... to Niagara Falls. In 1960 a seven-year-old boy (7) .... holiday a little way upstream was playing happily in the water when he suddenly found himself (8) .... difficulties. There had been (9) .... rain and the river was very full, but nobody noticed that he was (10) .... danger until it was too late. Onlookers watched helplessly as he was swept (11) .... the Horseshoe fall. But despite being thrown down the 48-metre drop he miraculously came through the experience with no (12) .... at all. Such (13) .... escapes are the exception rather (14) .... the rule, however, and visitors are (15) .... not to try this for themselves!

1 A occasion B chance C success D fortune

2 A visions B sights C looks D scenes

3 A scared B feared C thrown D shocked

4 A down B beneath C low D further

5 A pictures B photos C images D shots

6 A get B arrive C reach D land

7 A in B on C at D of

8 A with B in C by D on

9 A hard B strong C deep D heavy

10 A in B on C into D with

11 A straight B towards C for D in

12 A injury B hurt C blow D wound

13 A slim B narrow C tight D close

14 A than B of C that D by

15 A suggested B warned C informed D demanded

Part 4. Use of English 

For questions 1-15, read the text below and look carefully at each line. Some of the lines are correct, and some have a word which should not be there.

If a line is correct put a tick (Ú) by the number. If a line has a word which should not be there, write the word next to the number. There are two examples at the beginning (0 and 00).

STUDYING ABROAD

There are two reasons why I had wanted to  study in  Paris.  I  wanted       0    _V_

to be in a place  which  it  was  at  the  centre  of  Europe,  close  to  it       00   _it_

other countries such  as  England  and  Germany.  The  other  reason         1    ___

 was   that  I   had   been   found   it  very  difficult  to  find  a  place  to     2    ___

study   of  medicine   in   my  own   country,   where   there  were  only     3    ___

three medical schools.  I  had  spent  my  last  two  school  years  at  a       4   ___

boarding  school,  where  I  was  made  a  lot  of  friends  and  learned       5    ___

to look  after  myself.  I  was  nineteen  when  I  left  and  I  had   knew     6    ___

that    I   could    to   deal    with   student   life.    First   of   all,   I   had     7   ___

to learn the language of the country I would be living in there for quite       8   ___

a  while.   I   learnt   with   the   language   quickly   because  I  stayed       9   ___

with  a  family,  which  was  a  most  great   help.   I  was  expected  to      10   ___

speak only their language and not mine.  After  that,  I  looked  around      11   ___

 for an apartment  to  rent.  I  found  one  very  close  to  the  university     12   ___

so I went on foot every day.  I was being  able  to  exercise  a  lot  and       13  ___

therefore  be  fit  all  year  round.   My  studies   went  very  much  well     14   ___

and I graduated at the top of the class with full honours.                             15   ___

Part 5. Use of English

Read the text below. Complete the spaces (1-6) with the correct form of the words in capitals. There is an example (0) at the beginning.

Tourism in Britain

 Part 6. Writing