Form 8 Gateway B1 Unit 8

Complete the text with the correct past simple or past perfect form of these verbs. There are two extra verbs.

be • fall • get • have • jump • lie • wake

Last night I (1)      up suddenly at about three o’clock. I (2)          in bed for about four hours. I (3)     there for a moment. I (4)     no idea why I had woken up. Then I realised that I was on the floor. I (5)            out of bed and woken myself up!

Complete the short dialogues with the correct form of these verbs.

have • learn • snowboard • travel • study

A: Why did you decide (1)          Spanish?

B: Because I enjoy (2)          languages.

A: I can’t stand waiting in queues at the bus stop, can you?

B: No, I try to avoid (3)            in the rush hour!

A: I’d like to take up a new sport. Is (4)              difficult?

B: Yes, but it’s good (5)         a challenge.

Complete the sentences with the correct past simple or past perfect form of the verbs given. Use used to in two of the sentences.

1 Yesterday we     (have) an exam at school. It was really difficult!

2 I didn’t go to the cinema with Cathy because I          (see) the film before.

3 I              (play) rugby when I was at school but I don’t anymore.

4 We got to the station at three o’clock and        (catch) the next train to Oxford.

5 Katie              (have) long hair but this summer she cut it really short.

Choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) to complete the text.

In the past, teenagers (1)                      [used to talking, did they use to talk, used to talk] to their friends

on the home phone after school. They loved

(2)          [chat, to chat, chatting] for hours with their friends, who they

(3)            [were been, had been, used to be] with at school with all day. And it wasn’t strange (4)             [hang out, to hang out, hanging out]with their friends in the afternoon, too. But today, teenagers communicate

with short texts and instant messages instead. Recent research shows that most teens find it easier (5)        [to use, use, using] their mobile phones (6)          [for text, to text, texting]friends than to call them or talk to them face to face. American psychologist Lori Evans thinks that

communication (7)                   [didn't use to be, didn't used to be, use to be]as artificial, because communication today mainly happens online.

However, other people think that technology can help to build relationships. For example, Evan was a very shy boy, but he used social-networking sites (8)            [helping, to help, to helping]him feel less isolated. He started chatting with classmates who he (9)               [didn't speak, had spoken, hadn't spoken] to before. After just one week, his circle of friends(10)           [had grown, grew, grown]and he felt much happier.

Choose the correct alternatives to complete the sentences.

1 Sarah has a        [afraid, fear] of heights. She won’t even climb up a ladder!

2 She never gets       [anger, angry]. She always solves problems in a calm manner.

3 I can’t stand         [boredom, bored]. I need to be doing something all the time.

4 He always looks so           [happy, happiness]. I wonder what his secret is.

5 There’s a lot of            [excitement, excited] about the new sports centre in the town.

Complete the sentences with the correct abstract noun form of these words.

free • friend • leader • lonely • weak

1            is something I’m afraid of. I need to be around other people.

2 He is well-known for his            skills. Everybody does what he says!

3 In many countries, people are still fighting for their         .

4 I have a real          for chocolate cake!

5            is really important to me – probably as important as family.

Complete the text with these words. There are two extra words.

boredom • circle • close • creative • fear
sad • social

When I was young, (1)         wasn’t a problem. I had a small (2)        of friends, but we spent a lot of time playing outside together. We used to be very (3)          and we often invented new and imaginative games. Nowadays, children complain that there is not enough to do. They have lots of friends on (4)        networking sites and they have their games consoles but they’re still bored. I find that really (5)     .

Read the article about friendship. Six sentences are missing from the article. Choose from the sentences A–G the one which fits each gap. There is one extra sentence.

The family you choose yourself

Recently, I heard my sister say, ‘Friends are the family you choose yourself.’
(1)   Since she said it, I’ve seen it written on T-shirts, notebooks and pencil cases. Why is this saying so popular? I think it’s because for many people, friends are as important as family. We often prefer to spend our time with our friends. (2)  

Friendship hasn’t changed a lot over time. Thousands of years ago, the Ancient Greeks thought that there were different types of friends. One was friends that are reliable and who will always help us. Another type was the friends who we have fun with – they might not be very reliable but we have a good time with them.
(3)   This is a special friend who we have a lot in common with and feel close to and who will probably be a friend for life.

(4)   We have friends who can help us with our homework. We have other friends who share the same interests as us and we have a good time with them. And we also have ‘soul mates’, who are often people we’ve grown up with. The difference is that our friendships change much faster.

In the past our families were the most important people in our lives but that changed when people began to move away from their home towns to find work. (5)   We might also have to move away from our close friends. Then we have to find new ones and lots of younger people are starting to use the Internet for that. There are websites where you can find someone who likes doing the same things as you. For example, if you like running, you can find a friend who will go running with you.
(6)  

Changes in the way we live and the invention of modern technologies really do mean that friends are the family we choose ourselves.

A Sometimes we even celebrate special occasions like birthdays with them instead of our families.

B When families started to live in different cities and even countries, friends became more important than relatives.

C I hadn’t heard people say that before, but it’s a very common phrase.

D The last type was the ‘soul mate’.

E It’s important not to have too many friends.

F If you want to learn a language, you can find people in different countries to practise with.

G Nowadays, we have bigger circles of friends but they are the same types that the Ancient Greeks talked about.

Read the article again and choose the best answers, A, B, C or D.

1 What does the writer say about friends in the first paragraph?  

A Friends are more important than family.

B His sister isn’t a good friend.

C He chooses his friends very carefully.

D Friends are very important for a lot of people.

2 How many types of friends did the Ancient Greeks mention?  

A one

B two

C three

D four

3 What can be the problem with friends who we have fun with?  

A We don’t have much in common with them.

B They aren’t always reliable.

C They’re only friends when we’re having a good time.

D They never help us.

4 How have friendships changed since ancient times?  

A We don’t have as many friends.

B We have different types of friends.

C We have more friends.

D Our friends don’t help us as much.

5 Why are families less important to us now?  

A They are bigger than in the past.

B We don’t like spending time with them.

C We prefer to have friends we can choose.

D We often live in different places to them.

6 According to the article, why do some young people use the Internet?  

A to make new friends

B to talk to their families

C to find out about old friends

D to look for soul mates

Listen to four people talking about friends and friendship. Match the speakers (1–4) with the comments (A–E). There is one extra comment.

1  

2  

3  

4  

A Friends don’t have to have the same personalities.

B Friends help each other in difficult situations.

C It’s fantastic to have lots of friends that you can trust.

D Friends are people that you know in real life.

E Friends don’t say things just to please you.

Listen again and complete the notes with one or two words in each gap.

Speaker 1

Some of my friends go on social networking sites. They say they have lots of friends. The majority of people don’t have (1)      good friends.

Speaker 2

A good friend doesn’t need a reason to (2)      you out. You can always (3)      on them.

Speaker 3

A good friend should always speak the (4)       . They must be (5)        with you.

Speaker 4

I (6)        well with my best friend because I’m not like her. I like to talk and she likes to listen!