Reading Test (The 1st Term) Gateway B1

Read the texts about sleep problems. Match the sentences with the people. You can choose some people more than once.

A Tony

My sleep problem is really quite serious, but a lot of people think that it’s normal and even funny. I snore at night when I’m asleep – and my wife says that it’s pretty loud! Now, I know snoring isn’t unusual and there is a lot of advice on how to stop someone snoring, but my snoring is different! It’s linked to something called sleep apnoea. When you snore it means that you can’t keep your throat open when you’re asleep. In my case, I actually stop breathing for ten seconds or more. It worries my wife but I always wake up afterwards!

Read the texts about sleep problems. Match the sentences with the people. You can choose some people more than once.

B Lizzie

My problem is very unusual and most people have never heard of it. It’s called narcolepsy and it has changed my whole life. Narcolepsy is when people fall asleep anywhere at any time and they can’t stop it. Since the problem started I’ve had to stop working because you can’t do a good job if you fall asleep in the middle of a conversation! My friends have been very supportive but I don't like going out now because I get embarrassed about it and also I’ve had to stop driving as it’s much too dangerous. I go to a special sleep clinic now and they’re helping me a lot.

Read the texts about sleep problems. Match the sentences with the people. You can choose some people more than once.

C Robert

I’ve had this sleep problem since I was a child and I know a lot of people who have the same problem. It’s called insomnia and it means I sleep very badly. Sometimes I can’t get to sleep for hours and sometimes I go to sleep OK, but I wake up in the middle of the night and then I can’t get back to sleep again. It’s horrible because the next day I can’t concentrate on my work. The doctor gave me sleeping tablets, but I don’t like taking them because they make me feel bad the next day.

Read the texts about sleep problems. Are the statements True (T) or False (F)?

A Tony

My sleep problem is really quite serious, but a lot of people think that it’s normal and even funny. I snore at night when I’m asleep – and my wife says that it’s pretty loud! Now, I know snoring isn’t unusual and there is a lot of advice on how to stop someone snoring, but my snoring is different! It’s linked to something called sleep apnoea. When you snore it means that you can’t keep your throat open when you’re asleep. In my case, I actually stop breathing for ten seconds or more. It worries my wife but I always wake up afterwards!

B Lizzie

My problem is very unusual and most people have never heard of it. It’s called narcolepsy and it has changed my whole life. Narcolepsy is when people fall asleep anywhere at any time and they can’t stop it. Since the problem started I’ve had to stop working because you can’t do a good job if you fall asleep in the middle of a conversation! My friends have been very supportive but I don't like going out now because I get embarrassed about it and also I’ve had to stop driving as it’s much too dangerous. I go to a special sleep clinic now and they’re helping me a lot.

C Robert

I’ve had this sleep problem since I was a child and I know a lot of people who have the same problem. It’s called insomnia and it means I sleep very badly. Sometimes I can’t get to sleep for hours and sometimes I go to sleep OK, but I wake up in the middle of the night and then I can’t get back to sleep again. It’s horrible because the next day I can’t concentrate on my work. The doctor gave me sleeping tablets, but I don’t like taking them because they make me feel bad the next day.

Tony doesn't snore loudly.   [T, F]

Tony sometimes stops breathing.   [T, F]

Lizzie sometimes falls asleep when she's talking.   [T, F]

Lizzie doesn't think her life has changed.   [T, F]

Robert can never get to sleep.   [T, F]

Robert doesn't like being awake during the night.   [T, F]

Read the article about speaking skills. Choose the heading for each part.

Say what you mean

1 ……………………………………………

Can you express yourself well? Can you put your thoughts into words clearly? Do you use a lot of different vocabulary when you talk? Can you usually find the best words to express your ideas and opinions? I’m not talking about speaking in a foreign language, I’m talking about your ability to communicate clearly when you speak your native language.

Read the article about speaking skills Choose the heading for each part.

2……………………………………………

Teachers at school usually concentrate on helping students to write clearly, but now language experts think that they need to give more time to helping them to speak well too. Students learn pages and pages of new vocabulary and study a lot of grammar rules at school. They spend a lot of their lessons learning how to write essays and prepare for written exams. But although these things help their writing skills, they don’t develop their ability to communicate orally.

Read the article about speaking skills. Choose the heading for each part.

3……………………………………………

Adults in every generation think that teenagers don’t express themselves well. This was true in Shakespeare’s time and it’s true today! They often say that young people use too many slang expressions and that they repeat simple words again and again instead of using a wider variety of language. However, research shows that the use of slang is actually quite creative. Every new generation of teenagers invents new expressions and these become part of that generation’s identity. Some of them eventually move into the language of the whole population, while some of them are forgotten. It seems that many young people use the same phrases again and again when they speak because they are never really taught about developing their speaking skills.

Read the article about speaking skills. Choose the heading for each part.

4……………………………………………

The world today is changing. We are communicating more and more by video and phone and the ability to express your ideas clearly and creatively to other people is extremely important. Teachers need to give more training to students about how to give talks, how to summarise information and how to find different ways to explain or present things orally. All of these speaking skills will be extremely useful for students in the future when they start looking for jobs.

Read the article about speaking skills. Choose the heading for each part.

5……………………………………………

Learning how to speak well in their own language first can also help students of foreign languages become more effective learners. The techniques for developing good oral communication skills are the same in every language and if you learn them well in your native language, you will soon have the confidence to become a great communicator in foreign languages too. These are not just lessons for school, they’re lessons for life!