SAMPLE PLACEMENT TEST

Part 1 (30 minutes)

(Required for all candidates)

Question 1 – 5

Where can you see these notices? For questions 1 to 5, mark (x) one letter A, B or C on your Answer Sheet.

A in an office B in a cinema C in a museum

A in a bank B on a bus C in a cinema

A in a street B on a book C on a table

A in a bank B in a garage C in a station

A on clothes B on furniture C on food

1. YOU CAN LOOK, BUT DON'T TOUCH THE PICTURES

2. PLEASE GIVE THE RIGHT MONEY TO THE DRIVER

3. NO PARKING PLEASE

4. CROSS BRIDGE FOR TRAINS TO EDINBURGH

5. KEEP IN A COLD PLACE

Question 6 –10

In this section you must choose the word which best fits each space in the text below.

For questions 6 to 10, mark (x) one letter A, B, or C on your Answer Sheet

6. A at B up C on

7. A very B too C much 8. A is B be C are

9. A that B of C than 10. A use B used C using

Question 11 - 20 In this section you must choose the word which best fits each space in the texts. For questions 11 to 20, mark (X) one letter A, B, C or D on your Answer Sheet.

11. A getting B got C have D having

12. A their B his C them D theirs

13. A from B of C among D between

14. A much B lot C many D deal 15. A person B people C children D family

THE STARS

There are millions of stars in the sky. If you look (6)...............the sky on a clear night, it is possible to see about 3000 stars. They look small, but they are really (7)..............big hot balls of burning gas. Some of them are huge, but others are much smaller, like our planet Earth. The biggest stars are very bright, but they only live for a short time. Every day new stars (8)..........born and old stars die. All the stars are very far away. The light from the nearest star takes more (9)..........four years to reach Earth. Hundreds of years ago, people (10)............stars, like the North Star, to know which direction to travel in. Today you can still see that star.

Good smiles ahead for young teeth

Older Britons are the worst in Europe when it comes to keeping their teeth. But British youngsters (11)............more to smile about because (12).............teeth are among the best. Almost 80% of Britons over 65 have lost all or some (13).............their teeth according to a World Health Organization survey. Eating too (14)............sugar is part of the problem. Among (15)............, 12-year-olds have on average only three missing, decayed or filled teeth.

Question 16 - 20

16. A made B pointed C was D proved 17. A lied B told C cheated D asked 18. A find B know C think D expect 19. A Next B Secondly C Finally D Once 20. A as B but C because D if

Question 21 - 30

In this section you must choose the word or phrase which best completes each

sentence.

For questions 21 to 40, mark (X) one letter A, B, C or D on your Answer Sheet.

21. The children won´t go to sleep.......we leave a light on outside their bedroom.

A except B otherwise C unless D but

22. I´ll give you my spare keys in case you.........home before me.

A would get B got C will get D get

23. My holiday in Paris gave me a great..........to improve my French accent.

A occasion B chance C hope D possibility

24. The singer ended the concert...........her most popular song.

A by B with C in D as

25. Because it had not rained for several months, there was a............of water.

A shortage B drop C scare D waste

26. I ´ve always.............you as my best friend.

A regarded B thought C meant D supposed

27. She came to live her............a month ago.

A quite B beyond C already D almost

28. Don´t make such a..........! The dentist is only going to look at your teeth.

A fuss B trouble C worry D reaction

29. He spent a long time looking for a tie which..........with his new shirt.

A fixed B made C went D wore

Christopher Columbus and the New World

On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain to find a new route to India, China and Japan. At this time most people thought you would fall off the edge of the world if you sailed too far. Yet sailors such as Columbus had seen how a ship appeared to get lower and lower on the horizon as it sailed away. For Columbus this (16)...........that the world was round. He (17)...........to his men about the distance travelled each day. He did not want them to think that he did not (18)............exactly where they were going. (19).............., on October 12, 1492, Columbus and his men landed on a small island he named San Salvador. Columbus believed he was in Asia, (20).............he was actually in the Caribbean.

30. Fortunately......... from a bump on the head, she suffered no serious injuries from her fall.

A other B except C besides D apart

Question 31 – 40

31. She had changed so much that.........anyone recognized her. A almost B hardly C not D nearly 32. ..........teaching English, she also writes children´s books. A Moreover B As well as C In addition D Apart 33. It was clear that the young couple were.........of taking charge of the restaurant. A responsible B reliable C capable D able 34. The book.........of ten chapters, each one covering a different topic. A comprises B includes C consists D contains 35. Mary was disappointed with her new shirt as the colour...........very quickly. A bleached B died C vanished D faded 36. National leaders from all over the world are expected or attend the......meeting. A peak B summit C top D apex 37. Jane remained calm when she won the lottery and......about her business as if nothing had happened. A came B brought C went D moved 38. I suggest we.........outside the stadium tomorrow at 8.30. A meeting B meet C met D will meet 39. My remarks were..........as a joke, but she was offended by them. A pretended B thought C meant D supposed 40. You ought to take up swimming for the..........of your health. A concern B relief C sake D cause

Part 2 (90 minutes) (For upper level students)

Short form of the IELTS* (with fewer reading, listening passages and questions, but similar task types; writing task is similar to the Task 2 Writing)

SECTION 1

Questions 1–7

Complete the notes below.

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Stanmore’s Bank Student Package

Example Answer

Type of account: current account

Student Package Bank Stanmore

Instant overdraft up to: (1) £

Overdraft may later be increased to: (2) £

Note: no fee or (3) charged on regular overdraft while a student

Card for use at (4)

Cheque book and cheque (5)

Note: (6) not automatically part of package – must apply separately

Initial deposit into account: minimum of (7) £_________________

Questions 8–10

Choose THREE letters A–F

Which THREE things are acceptable forms of identification?

A student registration form

B letter from parents

C letter from university

D passport

E electricity or gas bill

F university student identity card

SECTION 2

Questions 11–15

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

Howchester Community Centre Association

11 This is the

A first meeting of the association.

B second meeting of the association.

C third meeting of the association.

12 Howchester doesn’t currently have a

A venue for big events.

B large population.

C Village Hall.

13 The speaker suggests that the village already has

A a plot of land for the community centre.

B enough sporting facilities.

C an amateur dramatics group.

14 The association will have to change its

A name.

B legal status.

C goals.

15 Much of the next year will be spent

A raising money.

B designing the building.

C building the centre.

Questions 16–20

Answer the questions below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER for each answer.

16 What will the first event be?

17 How much will a ticket to the first event probably cost?

18 How long will permanent officers remain in their positions?

19 What will the Treasurer have to open?

20 When will meetings be held each month?

READING PASSAGE 1

Questions 1–13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

We consume books, movies, music, and visual ar t

primarily to fulfill the internal emotional needs that are

fundamental to our personalities. But we also make

choices about art based on a desire to carve out identities

for ourselves, to articulate the stories of our lives. By the

same token, we look for those stories in others. We also

feel intuitively that we can judge others by their tastes.

Unfortunately, those judgments are often wrong, largely

because we pay attention to the wrong things.

The living spaces of highly open people contain more

books, CDs, and DVDs – and their collections are more

eclectic – than their less open counterparts, Sam Gosling, a

psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin, has found.

They enjoy discovering new artistic material and influencing

the tastes of others. ‘Openness correlates to a great range

of tastes,’ explains Stephen Dollinger, a psychologist at

Southern Illinois University. ‘These individuals are more

cultured and have a greater conception of what makes

great and interesting art.’ Less open people, meanwhile,

may be stuck on the tastes of their youth, watching

nostalgic movies and listening to classic rock.

Introverts, meanwhile – those reserved, thoughtful, self-

reliant types who draw their energy from spending time by

themselves – tend to take a contemplative, critical approach to

art and music. For them, form is more important than emotional

expression, according to research by the late University College

London psychologist Cyril Burt. Whereas extroverts enjoy

sensational art, introverts prefer more contemplative music

with highly developed formal elements.

People high in neuroticism – less emotionally-stable

people who are anxious, sensitive, and easily upset –

tend to be artistically creative and gravitate toward films,

songs, and literature often seen as romantic, according

to Burt’s research. They decorate their living spaces with

inspirational posters bearing messages like ‘Until you

spread your wings, you’ll never know how far you can fly.’

These self-affirmations help neurotic people manage their

tendency to worry and become blue, explains Gosling.

Neurotics use art to regulate their moods in the same way.

When feeling sad, they may be inclined to wallow in their

misery by choosing melancholic music, movies, or books.

Or, they may choose uplifting art to boost their mood.

One of the most surprising findings in the field of taste

research is that artistic preferences have a strong genetic

component. A study of 3,000 twins, for instance, revealed

that whether we like jazz or not is partially heritable. That

is not to say that there is a gene for liking jazz music the

way there are genes for eye colour. What may be inherited,

though, are particulars of personality and aspects of

intelligence that influence enjoyment of certain forms of art.

That differences in taste attitudes are heritable stands

to reason, given that personality itself is partly genetically

determined. Cognitive ability, another factor that influences

taste, is also partly genetic. We inherit such capacities

as intentional focus, memory, and speed and depth

of associative thinking. These skills may help a person

understand the complex and spontaneous nature of jazz,

free verse, improv comedy, and other art forms that require

mental flexibility.

If our taste preferences reflect our personalities, does

this mean we can accurately judge others based on their

tastes? We all form impressions based on people’s artistic

choices, confident that we can judge their personalities

based on the things they love. But decoding people based

on taste is not an exact science.

Personality types are not mutually exclusive – most of

us are a complex combination of many traits. An open-

minded taste hunter, for instance, may also have an

extrovert’s need to seek sensation. No one trait wholly

determines our tastes – various overlapping personality

traits each exert an influence, as do cognitive abilities like

language mastery and overall intelligence. Combined with

experiences and exposure, the result is the infinite variety

of preferences we see.

We make judgments about others’ tastes based on

stereotypes, explains Gosling. Some stereotypes are

correct. When Gosling asks his students to list their top 10

favourite songs, other students are able to match lists to

students with impressive accuracy. Rock fans truly are less

friendly, conservative, and religious, and more artistic and

anxious than fans of religious music. We assume classical

music fans are friendly, conscientious, and emotionally

stable – and for the most part, we’re right.

People judging others based on Facebook profiles,

which typically include catalogues of favourite books,

music, and movies, are able to accurately predict openness

and extroversion, but not emotional stability, Gosling

has found. And our stereotypes about fans of heavy

metal, electronic, pop, rap, and soul are considerably less

accurate, perhaps because inaccurate racial assumptions

cloud our judgment.

Another reason our judgments falter is that we focus

on the wrong cues. We wrongly assume, for instance,

that people with highly decorated and cluttered rooms

are more extroverted. We also assume such people are

more open, when really we should be looking for variety

in books and music, for books on art and poetry, and for

art supplies. We assume that rooms with stale air belong

to emotionally unstable people, when really we should be

scanning for inspirational posters.

Questions 1–6

Classify the following as traits associated with

A highly open people

B introverted people

C neurotic people

Write the correct letter A, B or C.

1 a desire to produce art

2 an interest in the structure of artistic works

3 a desire to change other people’s tastes

4 an interest in many different kinds of art

5 a need to control psychological states through art

6 a clear idea of excellence in art

Questions 7–9

Choose THREE letters A–F.

The list below gives various abilities which may be partially inherited.

Which THREE abilities are mentioned by the writer of the text?

A the ability to create art

B the ability to concentrate

C the ability to quickly see links between ideas

D the ability to play complicated music

E the ability to understand other people’s tastes

F the ability to think in a flexible way

Questions 10–13

Complete the summary of the last three paragraphs of Reading Passage 1.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

We rely on 10 when evaluating other people and their tastes. Although this can

be a good way of determining certain personality traits, it works poorly when it comes to

evaluating 11 . It’s possible that we hold 12 about certain types of music,

which can make our assessments inaccurate. We also tend to look at 13 about

somebody’s taste, rather than focusing on the important characteristics.

READING PASSAGE 2 Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

In 1998 two rival groups of scientists embarked on

research projects to measure the effects of gravity on the

expansion of the universe. Since the Big Bang 13.7 billion

years ago, the universe had been expanding. What was

unknown was whether this expansion would go on forever.

Was there too little mass in the universe to slow down

the expansion and it would continue forever? Or was the

amount of mass in the universe sufficient to not only slow

down the growth of the universe, but to eventually pull it

all back together to one point? Both teams got startling

results. Instead of slowing or continuing at a steady rate,

the universe was expanding faster and faster. A mysterious

energy was causing the universe to fly apart.

We have since established that the acceleration of the

expansion of the universe began about 9 billion years ago.

These findings were understandably shocking to scientists

who thought it most likely we lived in a universe which was

gently slowing down due to gravity. In order to determine

how fast the universe is expanding scientists use ‘standard

candles’. These are objects which we know always have

the same total brightness. The most reliable standard

candles are Type 1a supernovae. Because the mass of a star

which becomes a Type 1a supernova is always the same,

we know how bright the explosion which follows will be.

By measuring how much fainter the light from a Type 1a

supernova appears to us on Earth we know how far away

it must be.

However, we still need a way to measure the rate at

which these standard candles are moving away from us. To

do this, scientists look at the redshift of the light emitted

from the parent galaxy in which the Type 1a supernova

appeared. Redshift is the effect of the ‘stretching’ of light

which has travelled a long distance to reach us.

We know that light always travels at the same speed

through a vacuum – and that this speed doesn’t change

over time. However, the amount of energy in the light does

change. If the object which emits the light is moving away

from us, the wavelength of the light will be ‘stretched’,

which means the energy of the light is decreased. The

further away the object is from us here on Earth, the faster

it is moving away from us so the lower the energy of the

light we receive.

The scientists who were researching the expansion of the

universe in 1998 found that when they compared the light

from distant Type 1a supernovae to the redshift of the light

in the galaxy in which it was located that it was dimmer than

expected. Something was causing the expansion of the

universe to accelerate. A ‘dark’ unknown energy was at work.

We can speculate about the properties of dark energy by

studying the universe around us. It has to be very evenly

spread out throughout the entire universe. It doesn’t

interact with anything we can measure, other than by

causing the universe to expand. This makes it difficult to

measure it and advance theories or disprove ideas.

A related mystery is that of dark matter. Dark matter is

material which we can’t observe through telescopes or any

other method, but we can infer its existence by observing

the rotation of galaxies outside our own. Some of these

galaxies are rotating at speeds far greater than they should

be – and the reason is that material which we can’t see is

present within the body of the galaxy.

Various theories attempt to explain dark energy and

dark matter. To determine which one is correct we need

to find out more about them. The American space agency,

NASA, are considering missions to explore dark energy. At

the moment there are three possible contenders which

all chart the rate of acceleration of the universe using

standard candles. Each spacecraft also offers its own

unique instruments which measure redshifts of light from

distant stars.

The new observations from these missions will help

identify what we are dealing with. These missions could

bring back information which shakes up modern physics

and puts us back on track to formulating a fundamental

theory of the universe. Embarrassingly, until then we won’t

know what 74% of our universe is. We live in the dark ages.

Questions 14–19

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

Write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

14 In 1998, scientists discovered the universe was expanding.

15 The amount of mass in the universe affects how fast it expands.

16 The results of the 1998 studies were as expected.

17 Both teams of scientists used the same methods.

18 Standard candles are always the same brightness when seen from Earth.

19 Standard candles are more common than scientists once thought.

Questions 20–25

Complete the sentences below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

20 To measure the speed of a standard candle, you need to know the of the

light from the galaxy it is in.

21 Although the speed of light is constant in , the amount of energy changes.

22 Scientists were surprised to find that their standard candles were .

23 The fact that dark matter with ordinary matter makes studying it difficult.

24 The speed of tells us that dark matter must exist.

25 Understanding dark energy and matter may help scientists create about

the way the universe works.

Question 26

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, D or E.

Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage 2?

A Mistakes made by scientists in trying to understand the nature of the universe

B The effects of dark energy on standard candles and the problems it causes for scientists

C The discovery of dark energy and the challenges scientists face in trying

to understand it

D Why the universe is expanding and what standard candles can tell us about

its early history

E The use of standard candles and the strange effect they have on dark energy

and dark matter

Questions 1-10

Read the text and decide which option (A, B, C or D) best fits each space

Blood transfusion

Experiments in blood transfusion were carried out in France (1)……. the 17th

century though

Australian native people are said to have practised blood transfusion for thousands of years.

(2)………. 15th

June 1667 a French doctor, Jean-Baptiste Denys, successfully transfused a

boy with the blood of a lamb, and (3)….. a short period performed other transfusions.

However, several of his patients died and the practice was (4)…… banned, both in France and

in other countries. (5)…… the 19th

century, blood transfusions became common, but (6)……..

that time doctors did not understand that human blood is divided into different groups. It was

(7)……. Karl Landsteiner discovered this (8)……… 1901 that transfusions became safe.

(9)…..this point, transfusions were still carried out from patient to patient.

(10)…… the end of the same decade, it became possible to store blood using refrigeration and

by adding anticoagulants, and during the First World War, blood stored in blood banks was

used for the first time.

1. A until B since C in D already

2. A On B In C At D The

3. A since B after C over D from

4. A after B these days C previously D later

5. A By B In time C Until D During

6. A in B at C on D for

7. A already B not until C during D since

8. A in B at C on D over

9. A At B In C Since D On

10. A Afterwards B Finally C Formerly D By

Questions 11-20

Read the essay below. Write ONE word in each gap to complete the essay.

The Penny Post

The postal service (1)……which…...existed in the UK up to 1840 was expensive. All charges,

(2)…………….varied according to the distance the letter travelled and the number of pages

(3)…………….it contained, were paid by (4)……………..received the letter, something

(5)…………….seems odd from a modern perspective. The person (6)…………can be called the

father of the modern postal system was Sir Rowland Hill, (7)…………..reforms were based on

pre-payment, and (8)…………….introduced the postage stamp, the Penny Black,

(9)…..……….became one of the (10)……………famous stamps in the world.

Write about the following topic:

Success means different things to different people. Why is it difficult to define?

What constitutes real success in your view?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own

knowledge or experience.

Write at least 200 words.

That’s the end of the test!