Reading. End- of- year test

Read the text. Complete the sentences with one or two words from the text.

Marathon at the top of the world

Running a marathon is not an easy task. It requires great physical and mental strength, but for many people it’s the dream of a lifetime. In big cities around the world, there is usually at least one marathon taking place every week with thousands of people choosing to participate. But running in the city is not enough for some athletes. There are people looking for something more extreme. The Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon is the highest marathon in the world. It is named after the two men who first successfully climbed Everest, although runners do not run to the top of the mountain. It takes place in Nepal, starting at Everest Base Camp and finishing in the town of Namche Bazaar. The marathon takes place on the 29th of May every year and runners from all over the world participate. In the months leading up to the race, runners undertake a lot of training to prepare. It’s essential they train to run long distances, and rather than run on the street or in the gym, it’s better to run on mountain trails and paths. They also need to increase their strength so spending time in the gym lifting weights is vital. But the training is not only about running. Competitors also have to prepare their bodies for the high altitude. At over 5,000 metres at the start, the air is so thin that running, even downhill, feels much more difficult than running at sea level. To train the body to function in these conditions, some runners decide to sleep in altitude tents. These are specially designed to reduce the amount of oxygen which causes the body to create more red blood cells. Sleeping in a tent like this for two weeks before a race is a great way to increase your endurance. Unlike most marathons, you can’t drive or take a train to the start of the race. It takes around two weeks to trek to the start point, and much of this is uphill. Due to altitude sickness, many competitors don’t even make it to the start line. However, the altitude isn’t a problem for runners from Nepal. Since their bodies are already used to the conditions, there is a different race for them. Otherwise the foreign runners wouldn’t stand a chance. Whilst Everest is a dream for many people, there are a number of problems on the mountain. In recent years, the high number of tourists visiting the region means there is now a lot of rubbish in the area. To try and reduce the impact on the environment, the organisers of the race limit the number of people who can enter to 250 people per year. They are also working to improve the way waste is disposed of to ensure the race is an ecological event.

1 The Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon is a _              ________________________ race than most others for people who want something different to a standard marathon.

2 The race gets its name from the first people who                      _________________________ to the peak of the mountain.

3 It’s not easy to run in the race, even downhill, because of the               _________.

4 A/An               _________________________ can help runners to prepare for the difficult conditions in the race.

5 Before getting to the start line, participants spend about            ________ trekking.

6 With so many                   __ the region, the area is becoming more and more polluted.

Read texts 1 and 2 and choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D.

Text 1

After our children had left home for good, my husband and I came to the conclusion that we really needed to find ourselves a smaller house. Our house had far too many rooms, which meant constant cleaning, and it was over a hundred years old, so problems were constantly coming up. After watching a couple of TV shows and doing a bit of research online, we decided that a tiny, in other words very small, home was the right solution for us. We didn’t need to keep all of the things we had, and a tiny home on wheels would give us the opportunity to move it wherever we fancied. Instead of immediately putting our old house up for sale, however, my husband – who is down-to-earth and practical – suggested renting a tiny home in a holiday spot for a week. All I can do is thank our lucky stars that he had this idea before we had made any final decisions. The tiny home seemed perfect during the daylight hours. It had a lovely seating area, a perfectly usable kitchen, and the bathroom – though extremely small by anyone’s standards – was certainly adequate to our needs. But when it was time to go to sleep, it was a different story. The bed was in a tiny space under the roof, and once I’d managed to get up there, I felt as if I’d put myself into a drawer for the night! The area was certainly wide enough, but it was so shallow that sitting up even halfway was a challenge for me. And for my husband, who is nearly two metres tall, it was pretty much life-threatening. We did manage to sleep a little, but I kept hearing a bang, followed by a loud ‘Ouch!’ and knew that my husband would be covered in bruises in the morning. We survived three days in the tiny house before giving up. We are still talking about downsizing, and it’s possible that there is a tiny home designed for a semi-giant and his claustrophobic partner. I rather think, though, that we will look for a smaller but more traditional place. Our children, who were excited at the beginning, have expressed some disappointment. But when I pointed out that they may need a place for an extended stay in the future, they changed their minds and congratulated us on going a more traditional route.

Text 2

There are a number of reasons which influence the choice to move into a tiny home. The fact is, though, that the number of people doing so is increasing quickly. A study of people who have an interest in tiny living showed that 20% of them are already living tiny, while a large majority are planning to make the change as soon as they can. The percentage of people actually living in tiny houses is still small when compared to the general population, but it is definitely a growing trend and may continue to be so. Why are so many making the change? For one thing, people feel that their houses are too large, that they have too many things, and that going tiny will help them simplify their lives and give them more free time. The environment is another major factor. As one expert says, ‘Living tiny reduces the harm you do to the environment enormously. You use far fewer building materials, a lot less energy for heating and lighting, and you simply take up less space in our increasingly crowded environment.’ Money is also a big influence. Housing is expensive, especially in large urban areas, and some people are simply not willing to work more just so they can pay for an unnecessarily large dwelling. A tiny home is far cheaper than a conventional home to buy and maintain, and even though you may have to rent a piece of land to put it on, it still costs far less in the long run. Is everyone happy with their choice to go tiny? We interviewed one tiny home dweller in Cambridge, England who has ended up with mixed feelings about her decision. Kim Layton said: ‘I design and make clothes for a living, and I’ve worked from home for years. For some reasons I thought I could make the tiny space function for my business, but I simply couldn’t make it work. I’ve ended up renting a space, which of course is an added expense. On the other hand, it means I’m not constantly surrounded by my work, which I’m finding to be really relaxing.’ In conclusion, if you’re thinking about going tiny consider all of the advantages and disadvantages before making a decision. And if you have the chance to try it out before deciding, by renting a tiny home for a short period for example, that is definitely the best way to go.

1 A reason for moving to a different house NOT mentioned by the writer is

Read texts 1 and 2 and choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D.

Text 1

After our children had left home for good, my husband and I came to the conclusion that we really needed to find ourselves a smaller house. Our house had far too many rooms, which meant constant cleaning, and it was over a hundred years old, so problems were constantly coming up. After watching a couple of TV shows and doing a bit of research online, we decided that a tiny, in other words very small, home was the right solution for us. We didn’t need to keep all of the things we had, and a tiny home on wheels would give us the opportunity to move it wherever we fancied. Instead of immediately putting our old house up for sale, however, my husband – who is down-to-earth and practical – suggested renting a tiny home in a holiday spot for a week. All I can do is thank our lucky stars that he had this idea before we had made any final decisions. The tiny home seemed perfect during the daylight hours. It had a lovely seating area, a perfectly usable kitchen, and the bathroom – though extremely small by anyone’s standards – was certainly adequate to our needs. But when it was time to go to sleep, it was a different story. The bed was in a tiny space under the roof, and once I’d managed to get up there, I felt as if I’d put myself into a drawer for the night! The area was certainly wide enough, but it was so shallow that sitting up even halfway was a challenge for me. And for my husband, who is nearly two metres tall, it was pretty much life-threatening. We did manage to sleep a little, but I kept hearing a bang, followed by a loud ‘Ouch!’ and knew that my husband would be covered in bruises in the morning. We survived three days in the tiny house before giving up. We are still talking about downsizing, and it’s possible that there is a tiny home designed for a semi-giant and his claustrophobic partner. I rather think, though, that we will look for a smaller but more traditional place. Our children, who were excited at the beginning, have expressed some disappointment. But when I pointed out that they may need a place for an extended stay in the future, they changed their minds and congratulated us on going a more traditional route.

Text 2

There are a number of reasons which influence the choice to move into a tiny home. The fact is, though, that the number of people doing so is increasing quickly. A study of people who have an interest in tiny living showed that 20% of them are already living tiny, while a large majority are planning to make the change as soon as they can. The percentage of people actually living in tiny houses is still small when compared to the general population, but it is definitely a growing trend and may continue to be so. Why are so many making the change? For one thing, people feel that their houses are too large, that they have too many things, and that going tiny will help them simplify their lives and give them more free time. The environment is another major factor. As one expert says, ‘Living tiny reduces the harm you do to the environment enormously. You use far fewer building materials, a lot less energy for heating and lighting, and you simply take up less space in our increasingly crowded environment.’ Money is also a big influence. Housing is expensive, especially in large urban areas, and some people are simply not willing to work more just so they can pay for an unnecessarily large dwelling. A tiny home is far cheaper than a conventional home to buy and maintain, and even though you may have to rent a piece of land to put it on, it still costs far less in the long run. Is everyone happy with their choice to go tiny? We interviewed one tiny home dweller in Cambridge, England who has ended up with mixed feelings about her decision. Kim Layton said: ‘I design and make clothes for a living, and I’ve worked from home for years. For some reasons I thought I could make the tiny space function for my business, but I simply couldn’t make it work. I’ve ended up renting a space, which of course is an added expense. On the other hand, it means I’m not constantly surrounded by my work, which I’m finding to be really relaxing.’ In conclusion, if you’re thinking about going tiny consider all of the advantages and disadvantages before making a decision. And if you have the chance to try it out before deciding, by renting a tiny home for a short period for example, that is definitely the best way to go.

2 The writer feels that renting a tiny home temporarily…