Test 11 (time: 50 minutes) 80 marks

Reading

Read the text. Then do Exercises A and B.

Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, was an Economics professor at Chittagong University in Bangladesh. One day he took his students on a field trip to a nearby village, where they interviewed a woman who supported herself by making and selling bamboo stools. The woman told them that she could not make a profit on her work because she had to borrow money to buy the bamboo from a private lender who charged her a very high rate of interest. For example, if she borrowed £1 from the lender, she had to pay him £2 back.

Interested by her story, Yunus had his students conduct a survey of poor people in the area. They found that there were 42 people who needed loans to start their own business. The average amount of the loan they needed was only £17, but banks would not give it to them because they didn’t think the people would pay the loans back. Yunus decided to lend them the money himself. All of the lenders quickly became self-supporting and paid the money back, as they had promised.

Yunus realized that although poor people had the skills to support themselves and improve their living conditions by producing and selling goods, they did not have the money they needed to get started. They became trapped in the cycle of poverty. There were no opportunities for them to go to school, to live in comfortable houses, to have clean drinking water or any of the other things which every person has a right to. People had to spend all their time just trying to survive. This depressing situation caused them to give up all hope of having a better life and to destroy their sense of community and trust in other people.

Yunus successfully continued giving out ‘micro-loans’, and in 1983 founded Grameen Bank (which means ‘village bank’) to help the poor. Grameen Bank uses the system of ‘micro-credit’ where small amounts of money are lent to groups of five people. As soon as two people in the group repay their loans, other people in the group can borrow money.

Grameen Bank requires groups to meet regularly to plan strategies for working, repaying loans and saving money. They also learn to cooperate with each other to produce food, have a supply of pure drinking water, improve hygiene and health care, and to create a strong community whose members are motivated and successful. Groups also have to form networks with other groups, which increases people’s knowledge and builds relationships with other communities.

Today Grameen Bank has over 2000 branches all over Bangladesh, serving 6.6 million borrowers. The average amount of money the bank collects every day is $1.5 million. 97% of the borrowers are women, and over 98% of the loans are paid back. This is a rate higher than any other banking system enjoys. The ‘micro-credit’ system is also used in 58 countries around the world.

Most important of all, Yunus has given people the means of breaking the cycle of poverty and of having a better life.

A Choose the correct answer. [5 points]

0 Why did Yunus take his students on a field trip?

a so they would learn about local environmental conditions

b so they would learn about local economic conditions

c so they would learn about local customs and traditions

1 What does the word ‘interest’ in the first paragraph mean?

a the amount of money you borrow

b a fee you pay for borrowing money

c a fee you get for borrowing money

2 What did the students’ survey show?

a that people weren’t interested in starting their own business

b that people needed a lot of money to start their own business

c that people didn’t need a lot of money to start their own business

3 What is the cycle of poverty?

a Poor people don’t want to improve their lives.

b Poor people don’t have the skills to improve their lives.

c Poor people don’t have a chance to improve their lives.

4 What is special about Grameen Bank?

a Its main purpose is to help people change their lives.

b It is profitable.

c It has branches all over the world.

5 Most Grameen Bank borrowers are

a middle-class men.

b self-employed women.

c foreign banks.

B Write true (T), false (F) or not stated (NS) if the answer isn’t in the text. [5 points]

0 Yunus knew that people in the village he visited were poor. NS

1 Yunus received the Nobel Peace Prize for creating a profitable bank. ____

2 Banks wouldn’t lend poor people money because they didn’t trust them. ____

3 People trapped in the cycle of poverty have a close sense of community. ____

4 Working in groups helps people to achieve their goals. ____

5 Grameen Bank has more branches than any other bank in the world. ____

Vocabulary

C Choose the correct answer. [10 points]

One morning, a 0) ____ old lady was 1) ____ down the street. Suddenly, a mugger

2) ____ out from behind a parked car, 3) ____ the lady’s purse and 4) ____ down the street with it. Fortunately, Spiderman, who had been 5) ____ down the side of a nearby building, 6) ____ the thief trying to escape with the bag and 7) ____ after him. He

8) ____ the mugger with one of his special Spider-punches and held him until the police arrived. The lady wanted to give Spiderman a reward for returning her bag, but he asked her to 9) ____ the money to the animal shelter instead. Once again, Spiderman had

10) ____ a valuable service to the community!

0 a full  b frail c feline

1 a crawling  b rushing  c strolling

2 a walked  b leapt  c hid

3 a grabbed  b escaped  c made off

4 a dashed  b acquired  c strolled

5 a flying  b crawling  c walking

6 a looked  b stared  c spotted

7 a escaped  b chased  c took

8 a passed away  b stunned  c acquired

9 a pay  b adopt  c donate

10 a given  b provided  c made

D Complete with these compounds. [5 points]

broadband, hard disk, keyboard, laptop, software, spreadsheet

0 Microsoft is coming out with new software to protect computers from viruses.

1 A wireless _________ and mouse can easily be moved around.

2 My mum just bought a new _________ computer so that she can take it with her when she’s on a business trip.

3 A virus destroyed my computer’s _________ , but fortunately I had backup copies of everything on CD-ROMs.

4 Our new _________ Internet connection makes surfing the net so much faster.

5 Mum showed me how to use Excel to make a _________ for my school project.

E Complete with these words. [5 points]

base, directory, message, money, number, printer

0 Jimmy gets some pocket money every week.

1 I can make copies very quickly on my new laser _________ .

2 You’ll find all the information you need in the company’s data _________ .

3 I dialled the wrong _________ by mistake when I was trying to call you.

4 Just send me a text _________ to let me know if you can come to the cinema.

5 If you don’t know the number, you can look it up in the telephone _________ .

F Circle the correct answer. [5 points]

0 The free clinic provides / promotes a valuable service to the community.

1 Banks usually make a huge income / profit – they never lose money.

2 Teachers don’t earn / pay high salaries even though they have an important job.

3 The price / cost of oil has increased dramatically recently.

4 The anti-virus software was included with my new laptop at no extra price / cost.

5 Can I lend / borrow your pen for a minute?

G Complete with these words. [5 points]

adopted, advertise, envy, founded, products, services

0 My puppy was adopted from the animal shelter.

1 If companies don’t _________ , people won’t know what they sell.

2 One of the _________ the hotel provides is free transport to and from the airport.

3 I don’t _________ people who earn big salaries – they really have to work hard.

4 Bill Gates and Peter Allen _________ Microsoft in 1975.

5 My mum likes to buy _________ which are made locally.

Grammar

H Circle the correct answer. [5 points]

0 Try to get through to Henry, will / won’t you?

1 Let’s send a text message to Tim, shall / will we?

2 Although / In spite of the restaurant is expensive, the staff doesn’t provide good service.

3 Nothing is as useful as a mobile phone, is / isn’t it?

4 Despite the fact that / Despite the special discount price, the jacket was still expensive.

5 Everyone got a pay rise, don’t / didn’t they?

I Put these sentences into the third conditional. [10 points]

0 Bob didn’t work hard, so he didn’t get a pay rise.

If Bob had worked hard, he would have got a pay rise.

1 I didn’t have enough money, so I had to get a loan from the bank.

__________________________________________

2 The hotel closed because it didn’t provide good service.

__________________________________________

3 The hard disk was destroyed by a virus, so I lost all my files.

__________________________________________

4 Elizabeth had an accident because she was driving too fast.

__________________________________________

5 The bags were so expensive that the shop sold only one.

__________________________________________

J Complete with the correct question tag. [5 points]

0 You have a computer, don’t you ?

1 That advertisement is very clever, _________ ?

2 You’ve saved your files on a CD-ROM, _________ ?

3 I’m getting a pay rise, _________ ?

4 You have anti-virus software, _________ ?

5 Don’t get any more loans from the bank, _________ ?

Writing

K Write a brief biography (120-150 words) of someone you admire and respect. [20 points]

Before you write, make a plan about what you’re going to say:

• Introduction: Mention the person’s name and other appropriate details, such as where and when he/she was born, your relationship to him/her, etc. Include a brief statement of why you have chosen to write about the person.
• Paragraphs 2 and 3: Give details about the person, such as information about his/her childhood and important events which influenced him/her. Also talk about what the person did/does to make you admire him/her.
• Conclusion: Say why you think he/she is a good role model or what is special about him/her.