PRACTICE TEST 11 FOR GRADE 9, 2021

I. LEXICO-GRAMMAR
Part 1: Choose the word or phrase that best completes each sentence.
1. No ________ had I said it than I realised it was the wrong thing to say.
A. quicker B. rather C. sooner D. earlier
2. The information he gave us was ________ useless. It didn’t help us at all.
A. utterly B. deeply C. extremely D. painfully
3. Unfortunately, he’s never ________ his potential, which is a great shame.
A. encountered B. gained C. fulfilled D. overcome
4. Jennifer _________ advantage of all the opportunities she was given and has done very well.
A. achieved B. had C. gained D. took
5. The government has__ a ban on exports to those countries because of their human right records.
A. imposed B. taken C. made D. compelled
6. Sales of the new product line ________ the company’s profits in the last quarter.
A. cheered B. boosted C. encouraged D. celebrated
7. ―Well, I hope you enjoyed your meal.‖ – ―________‖
A. Oh, absolutely delicious. B. Yes, that’s very interesting.
C. No problem. D. Yeah, that’s right.
8. Alan Grintley is a _________ relative of mine. He was my great-great-great-grandfather.
A. far B. common C. distant D. close
9. The TV company is looking for people to take __________ in a new reality show.
A. place B. part C. point D. pity
10. Some people just seem to be _________ of reading instructions correctly.
A. inefficient B. incompetent C. inexpert D. incapable
11. We’ll offer you the job _________ as you realise that it’s only on a temporary basis.
A. providing B. as long C. unless D. in case
12. We’ve got to _________ in mind that we have a very limited budget for the refurbishment.
A. consider B. hold C. carry D. bear
13. You need to _________ yourself with all the safety procedures before you start work.
A. recognise B. acknowledge C. identify D. familiarise
14. I’ve been racking my ________ to remember that man’s name but it still won’t come.
A. mind B. thoughts C. brain D. ideas
15. _________ concerned me about the trip was the lack of security.
A. That B. It C. What D. Which
16. _________ of what other people think, it’s important to follow your heart in these matters.
A. Regardless B. Concerning C. Regarding D. Nevertheless
17. We _________ of taking the train to London but we took the car instead.
A. are thinking B. would think C. were going to think D. were thinking
18. There’s no ________ that the global climate is changing but how much of that change is due to human activity
is debatable.
A. refusing B. denying C. ignoring D. rejecting
19. She wishes she _________ some warm clothes with her as the weather was unseasonably cool and she was
frozen.
A. was bringing B. had brought C. could bring D. brought
20. Have you taken all the factors into _________ in your calculations?
A. account B. issue C. advantage D. allowance
Part 2: Complete each sentence with suitable prepositions or particles.
1. The company always takes ___________ new staff for the summer period.
2. Negotiations broke _____________ because of a disagreement about trading arrangements.
3. It was so noisy in the room that I couldn’t make ___________ what Jill was saying.
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4. No one expected that the new fashion would catch _________ as quickly as it has.
5. The robbers made ____________ a large amount of money.
6. Wendy asked the bank for a loan in order to set ___________ a gardening business.
7. Mark thinks there are problems in the contract and he is set __________ our signing it.
8. The smell of cabbage in the hall immediately put me _____ the idea of asking for a room there.
9. They don’t have much money, just enough to get ___________.
10. When the journalist asked her a question in front of many cameras she didn’t utter a word. We all put her
reaction _____________ stress.

Part 3: Write the correct FORM of each bracketed word in the numbered space provided in the column on the
right. (0) has been done as an example.
EGYPT 0._____ heavily _____
Egypt is the most (0) _______ (HEAVY) populated country in the Middle East 1. _________________
with (1) ________ (APPROXIMATE) 80 million people. Located in North 2. _________________
Africa, Egypt is an extremely dry land as the (2) ________ (MAJOR) (96%) of it 3. _________________
is desert. The (3) ________ (REMAIN) 4% consists of the famous river Nile and 4. _________________
its rich fertile banks. The Nile runs the entire (4) _______ (LONG) of the 5. _________________
country. Almost the entire Egyptian (5) ________ (POPULATE) lives along its 6. _________________
banks. 7. _________________
Every year, millions of tourists travel to Egypt because of its truly (6) 8. _________________
________ (REMARK) history. Egypt gave rise to one of the greatest (7) 9. _________________
________ (CIVILISE) and richest cultures the world has ever seen. Ancient 10. ________________
Egyptian society lasted for more than 3,000 years and left magnificent (8)
________ (ARCHAEOLOGY) wonders behind, such as the Great Pyramids and
The Sphinx at Giza.
Egypt is a (9) _________ (FASCINATE) country which remains just as
vibrant and (10) _________ (CULTURE) rich today as it was in the past.

Part 4: The passage below contains 10 mistakes. UNDERLINE the mistakes and WRITE THEIR CORECT
FORMS in the spaces provided in the column on the right. (0) has been done as an example.
The Chinese is very generous when it comes to the education of their children. No 0. ______ are _______
caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or 1. _________________
even abroad to England, the United States or Australia. They also want their 2. _________________
children to take extra- course activities which they will either learn a musical 3. _________________
instrument or ballet, or other classes which will give them a head start in life. The 4.__________________
Chinese believe that the most expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents 5. _________________
will spend reasonable amounts of money on education. Even poor couples will 6. _________________
buy a computer for their son or daughter. However, what most parents fail to see 7.__________________
is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap. 8. _________________
Parents can see that their children’s skills vary, skilled in some areas while poor 9. _________________
in the others. What most parents fail to realize, though, is that today children lack 10. ________________
self-respect and self-confidence. The problem is that parents are only educating
their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but
parents are not teaching them the most important skills they need to be confident,
happy, or clever. Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills as cooking,
sewing, and doing other housework. Teaching a child to cook will improve much
of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking demands patience and time. It
is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his
cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish his job successfully.
His result, a well-cook dinner, will give him much satisfaction and a lot of self-
confidence. Page 40
Nguyen Thi Thanh My, M.A, Phan Boi Chau high school for the gifted, 0979.935.999
III. READING
Part 1: Read the following passage and decide which answer (A, B, C, or D) best fits each gap.
Why do we smile?
Every human being is born with the ability to smile. We know this because even children who are (1) _________ to
see can still grin. A smile is a natural reaction (2) _________ a positive moment, like a friendly face or a clever
joke. But this isn’t the first reason we smile. Most babies first smile when they (3) ________ the age of six to eight
weeks. It’s usually an accident: an expression (4) _________ when exercising their facial muscles (or passing
wind!). But once they realise a smile (5) _____ them a lot of attention- huge smiles and happy noises in return- they
learn to try it again. And it doesn’t (6) ____ too much effort either- we need 43 muscles to frown but only 17 smile.
But not every creature can smile. Although your pet dog may sometimes (7) _______ like it’s smiling back at you,
it’s not. Animals do (8) ________some of the same emotions as us, but they don’t smile. A dog’s cheerful face is
more (9) _________to be a sign of confusion, while dolphins (10) ___ the muscles for facial expressions (their
mouths are permanently turned upwards which makes them appear to be smiling). Animals express their joy
through other movements, like a (11) ________ tail or a backwards flip. Some, (12) _____ as chimpanzees and
rats, can even laugh.

1. A. incapable B. useless C. unable D. helpless

2. A. of B. for C. with D. to
3. A. reach B. make C. achieve D. accomplish
4. A. done B. given C. made D. pushed
5. A. gets B. pays C. draws D. points
6 A. use B. cost C. take D. make
7. A. show B. look C. suggest D. appear
8. A. sense B. experiment C. release D. experience
9. A. possible B. probable C. likely D. kindly
10. A. lose B. lack C. miss D. need
11. A. waging B. revolving C. shifting D. stirring
12. A. so B. such C. therefore D. much
Part 2: Fill each of the following numbered blanks with ONE suitable word
Mosquitoes
According to the World Health Organisation, malaria, a disease spread by mosquitoes, affects millions of people
every year. Everyone knows how irritating the noise made by a mosquito, (1) ________ by a painful reaction to its
bite, can be. It is astonishing that so (2) _________ is known about why mosquitoes are drawn to or driven away
from people, given the level of distress and disease caused by these insects. We know that the most effective
chemical (3) __________ protecting people against mosquitoes is diethyltoluamide, commonly shortened to deet.
(4) __________ deet works well, it has some serious drawbacks: it can damage clothes and some people are
allergic to it.
Scientists know that mosquitoes find some people more attractive than others, but they do not know (5) ________
this should be. They also know that people vary in (6) _________ reactions to mosquito bites. One person has a
painful swelling while (7) __________ who is bitten by the same mosquito may hardly notice. Scientists have
never discovered the reason for this, but they have carried (8) _________ experiments to show that mosquitoes are
attracted to, or put off by, certain smells. In the future, scientists hope to develop a smell that mosquitoes cannot
resist. This could be used in a trap (9) _________ that, instead of attacking people, mosquitoes would fly into the
trap and be destroyed. For the time (10) _________ however, we have to continue spraying ourselves with
unpleasant liquids if we want to avoid getting bitten.
Part 3: You are going to read an article about advertising in public places. For questions 1-10, choose from the
people (A-E). The people may be chosen more than once.
Advertising in public places. Like it or love it?
We asked five people for their opinions
A Rob Stevenson, lorry driver
The main problem is that the location of posters can be a safety hazard if they block your view of junctions or road
signs. I'm not distracted from driving by the content so much, just by the fact that a poster is there. I've no time to
read them or study them, though the names of products must stick in your memory. Posters in fields getPage a lot 41
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Nguyen Thi Thanh My, M.A, Phan Boi Chau high school for the gifted, 0979.935.999
attention because you certainly notice them as you drive down the motorway. They must be a bonus for the farmer
who gets an income from them, but I suppose they do make a bit of a mess of the rural environment. On the whole,
there aren't too many posters on the roads - not compared with some countries I've driven through.
B Josie Pelham, cabin crew
Walking through airports in uniform, I tend not to look around too much. That's because I run the risk of being
asked questions by confused passengers who mistake me for ground crew, but helping them is not my job. But
adverts in airports have a captive audience because people end up hanging around waiting for delayed flights in
lounges or at boarding gates, so in those places they must work well for the advertisers. When travelling, an
amusing advert can brighten up my day, but I do tend to see endless dull adverts for banks round the airport and
they don't fit into that category! Planes are even being painted externally to carry advertising. I saw one decorated
to advertise house music in Ibiza. How cool is that?
C Damian Stenton, lawyer
To be honest, I can take or leave street advertising - I don't pay it much attention and posters aren't that obtrusive. I
don't even mind posters in the countryside, though I know that's an issue for some groups in society. Some of the
paper posters are being replaced by TV screens. I guess that enables the company to make more money, as they can
switch adverts easily and it also saves paper. But it's rather environmentally unfriendly as each advertising screen
obviously has to be powered by electricity. At a time when we're all being urged to cut down on consumption of
precious resources, putting up TV screens everywhere seems rather counterproductive.
D Danni Rochas, interior designer
I often feel surrounded by posters and advertising, it seems to be taking over our city. I am reminded of an episode
of The Simpsons where the town’s outdoor advertising comes to life and hunts down the residents. I'm resigned to
the fact that posters are 'necessary' commercialisation, but I find them less annoying when they 'give' something
positive in exchange for being such an intrusive presence on the urban landscape. Occasionally, though, advertisers
find a new angle on an issue that's really thought-provoking and that must be positive. So maybe I'd prefer it to
exist rather than not.
E Naomi Hesketh, student
I try to walk straight past most posters as if they weren't there, but some do manage to grab your attention
nonetheless. I really like those that are colourful or imaginative. I think advertising allows lots of clever people to
reach a wide public with their ideas, and we all benefit from that. Why would you even look at a boring poster? I
think production values are important, too, in making you trust the advertiser. I agree with banning posters from
parks and on historic buildings, but there's nothing wrong with them in shopping streets and main roads. They
make the environment brighter.
Which person says that advertising
Your answers
1 can be uninteresting if there's a lack of variety?
2 has a mostly negative impact on the urban landscape?
3 can damage the appearance of the countryside?
4 may be a waste of energy resources?
5 can lead to a break of concentration in a job?
6 should not be allowed in certain public places?
7 can be a source of potential danger?
8 can sometimes make you feel better?
9 is good if it makes you think about something?
10 is useful in providing work for talented and creative people?

Part 4: Read the following passage and answer questions 1-13.

Social housing in Britain
A During the past 20 years in Britain there has been a significant decrease in the number of social homes in the
housing stock, down from 5.3m to 4.8m. The proportion of social housing has fallen from 29% to 18% during the
same period. This is largely due to the policies of Margaret Thatcher's government during the 1980's which forced
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Nguyen Thi Thanh My, M.A, Phan Boi Chau high school for the gifted, 0979.935.999
local councils to sell homes under market price to existing tenants under a 'right to buy' scheme and prevented them
from building new houses. New social homes were then to be paid for by central government and managed by local
housing associations.
B Next month, the government is expected to announce a significant increase in the Social Housing Department's
£1.7 billion annual budget and also intends to make the application process for social housing simpler. The
additional £2 billion will build about 50,000 new houses each year at current building costs. Still more houses
could be built if subsidies were reduced.
C The UK government is hoping that the extra investment will improve the housing situation. Britain with her
increasing population builds fewer new houses than are needed, with a shortfall of 100,000 a year according to
Shelter, a housing charity. The result is a boom in house prices that has made owning a home unaffordable for
many, especially in London and the south of England. Key public sector workers, such as nurses and teachers, are
among those affected.
D In order to increase the social housing stock the government is using a process known as planning gain. Town
councils are increasing the amount of social housing developers must build as part of a new building project and
which they must give to the local housing association. Even without the financial support of the central
government, some local councils in England are using planning gain to increase the proportion of social housing
stock. In expensive Cambridge, the council wants 25% of new housing to be social; the figure is 35% in Bristol,
while Manchester is planning 40% over the next twenty years.
E Will this housing policy create new sink estates? Hopefully, not. Housing planners have learnt from the mistakes
of the 1960s and 1970s when large council housing estates were constructed. Builders have got better at design and
planning mixed-use developments where social housing is mixed with, and indistinguishable from, private housing.
Social housing developments are winning design awards - a project in London won the Housing Design Award —
though it is true that some council estates that now illustrate some of the worst aspects of 1960s architecture won
awards at the time.
F The management of social housing stock has largely moved from local councils to housing associations.
Housing associations look after the maintenance of the existing housing stock, getting repairs done and dealing
with problems like prostitution and drugs while employing estate security and on-site maintenance staff. One
significant change is that planners have learned to build smaller housing developments.
G The significant drawback of social housing still remains: it discourages mobility. What happens to the nurse
who lives in cheap social housing in one town, and is offered a job in a region that does not provide her with new
social housing? The government wants to encourage initiative but is providing a housing system that makes it
dfficult for people to change their lives. Public-sector workers are increasingly being priced out of London and
other expensive parts of the country and, as a result, are unable to take advantage of opportunities available to
them.
For questions 1-7, choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write
your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes. You may use each heading only once. There are more
headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.

List of Headings
i. Still difficult to move around
ii. Councils give way to housing associations
iii. Increased spending
iv. The cost of moving home
v. A shrinking supply
vi. Learning from the past
vii. Public-sector workers squeezed out
viii. New demands on developers

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Nguyen Thi Thanh My, M.A, Phan Boi Chau high school for the gifted, 0979.935.999
1. Paragraph A 2. Paragraph B 3. Paragraph C
4. Paragraph D 5. Paragraph E 6. Paragraph F 7. Paragraph G
For questions 8-13, write in the corresponding numbered boxes
YES if the statement agrees with the information
NO if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
8. During the Thatcher years, there was a block on building social homes.
9. The housing problem in London is worse than in the rest of south-east England.
10. Local authorities are starting to depend on the 'planning gain' scheme.
11. One way to make social housing more successful is to make it similar to private housing.
12. Local councils are unable to deal with crimes committed on social housing land.
13. It would not be helpful to modify pubic workers salary depending on where they lived.

IV. WRITING:
Part 1: Use the word given in bracket to write a new sentence in such a way that it is as similar as possible in
meaning to the original sentence.
1. We were all shocked when he died. (came)
His ___________________________________________ to us all.
2. When it comes to punctuality, Fiona really takes after her mother. (concerned)
As _____________________________________________, Fiona really takes after her mother.
3. Women outnumber men by two to one on the art course. (twice)
There ______________________________________________ men on the art course.
4. I didn’t turn the TV on because I didn’t want to wake the baby. (fear)
I didn’t turn the TV on ______________________________________________ the baby.
5. The woman’s actions deserved praise, not criticism. (been)
The woman’s actions _______________________________________, not criticized.
6. A new flu vaccine has been on trial since the beginning of the year.
They __________________________________________________________
7. If anyone suceeds in solving the problem, it will probably be him.
He is the most ________________________________________________________
8. She discovered eight new comets in the course of her work.
Her work resulted ______________________________________________________
9. Under no circumstances should you phone the police
The last _____________________________________________________________
10. They were just as good as we had expected.
They certainly lived ____________________________________________________

Part 2:
A friend has agreed to stay in your flat (apartment) and look after it while you are away. You want to give your
friend some information about the flat.
Write a letter (about 120- -150 words) to this friend. In your letter:
 Give information about the flat
 Provide any important instructions
 Say what he/she should do if there are any problems

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Nguyen Thi Thanh My, M.A, Phan Boi Chau high school for the gifted, 0979.935.999