Part III. Use of english

Task 1

For questions 1 - 15, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only one word in each space. There is an example at the beginning (0). Explain your choice.

Homework

The homework question is (0) as old as it is difficult to answer. Educators in Britain have been arguing about it (1) ………… homework became commonplace in the mid-19th century. Any (2) ……….. the public has voiced concern about falling educational standards, schools have responded by assigning more homework. Eventually they give (3) ………… assignment too many, then there is an outcry about the cruelty of it all. Schools respond by assigning (4) …………. homework until one day (5) ………… asks why standards are dropping, draws the (6) ……….. that more homework is needed and the pendulum swings (7) ………… again.

Although primary schools are (8) ……….. no obligation to assign homework, the current government guidelines (9) …………. that children in the first three years of primary school do one hour of homework a week, while children in years five and six (10) ………….. be assigned half an hour daily. However, a 1999 study carried (11) ……………. at Durham University found there was no evidence that homework in primary schools boosted academic performance, and (12) …………… evidence that it might even cause harm. There is also widespread concern in the profession that badly-constructed homework policies could (13) ………… to a widening of the (14) …………… between children with educated parents and children (15) ………… parents left school early.

Task 2

Complete the gaps in the text with a word formed from the word given in the margin. Four of the words you need to write begin with out. The first one has been done as an example. Translate the formed words.

Childhood self-esteem can overwhelm academic

disadvantage or social (0) deprivation in determining DEPRIVE

future earnings power, according to major new research.

There is now clear evidence that the earnings of people

who had higher self-esteem at age ten (1) ……… those STRIP

of their peers whose academic performance was better

at the same age. Bright children often have higher

self-esteem, as do some from more affluent (2) ………. . GROUND

But the study compared children from similar families and

still found that those who were psychologically

well-balanced at ten were now (3) ………….. their peers. PERFORM

The research also found, surprisingly, that it is not unusual

for children to have high academic (4) ………. and low ACHIEVE

self-esteem leading to significant later (5) ………. in the PERFORM

jobs market. A spokesman for the British Association for

Counselling said: '(6) ……….. for children doesn't come COURAGE

only from crude parental hostility at home: it can just be

(7) ……… or the constant feeling that they're making you RESENT

tired. Children pick that up. Nor is it only (8) …………. PRIVILEGE

children who suffer. All too often you can ask affluent

parents who the important people in their child's life are –

teachers, friends and so on – and they haven't a clue.'

Bearing out the findings of this research, many (9) … STAND

successful entrepreneurs, such as Richard Branson, were

(10) …………… academically when they were at school SHINE

but had the advantage of supportive families.

Task 3

Read the text below and look carefully at each line. Some lines are correct, and some have a word which should not be there. If a line is correct, put a plus (+) by the number. If a line has a word which should not be there, write the word in the space at the end of the line. Explain your choice.

One of the most fastest growing areas of interest on the Internet 1 __

is health. The problem is that the websites are so numerous in that 2 __

it is hard job to know where to start. As well as the more respectable 3 __

sites, there are also the sites just wishing to sell you the more latest pills 4 __

and therapies. In addition, there are the far more than dangerous sites 5 __

that mean well, but do not give an enough accurate and reliable 6 __

information. Such as information could do more to harm patients 7 __

than cure them. However, the results of a survey recently carried 8 __

out show that most people are using the Internet to find out the more 9 __

detailed facts about their frequently occurring health problems, once 10 __

they have been diagnosed by their family doctor. One new idea is to have 11 __

doctors in website chat rooms, where a person can talk the more easily to 12 __

a doctor about problems and get such a good and quick advice that they 13 __

do not need to go outside their house. However, the problem is that the 14 __

more as often patients consult their doctors in this way, the more likely it 15 __

is that the personal contact of between patient and doctor will be lost. 16 __