Holiday snaps of 'smiling' three-ton hippo 'Otis' become web hit

Key

Question 1
a) False - And when the couple exchanged positions, the three-ton beast duly obliged with another grin for the camera next to her husband.
b) True – ‘my wife is a big fan of animals so we always try and visit somewhere when we are away,'
c) False - 'Actually the week we were there the zoo had just put two hippos together for the first time in the tank.
d) True - Mr Parker, 35, from Little Rock, Arkansas, even gets fan mail from people far away telling him he is their computer screensaver or Facebook profile picture.

Question 2
a) Jay and Lauren Parker come from Little Rock, Arkansas. While they were on holiday, they took some photographs at San Diego Zoo in California in front of the hippopotamus tank there.
b) The photographs have become extremely popular on the web after Jay Parker uploaded them. Afterwards, American and Chinese blog and chat users have used it, as well as others who use it as wallpaper on their computer or as the photo for their Facebook profile.

Question 3
a) beaming
b) beast
c) pops up/(to) pop up

Question 4
a) The extraordinary photographs were taken during a holiday visit by the Parkers, from Little Rock, Arkansas, to San Diego Zoo in California.

b) If my wife wasn’t/weren’t a big fan of animals, we would not always try and visit some when we were away.

c) Mr Parker said that it was kind of strange to think that there were people out there with a picture of him on their computer, but he guessed he was just the hippo man as far as they were concerned.’

Holiday snaps of 'smiling' three-ton hippo 'Otis' become web hit

Key

Question 1
a) False - And when the couple exchanged positions, the three-ton beast duly obliged with another grin for the camera next to her husband.
b) True – ‘my wife is a big fan of animals so we always try and visit somewhere when we are away,'
c) False - 'Actually the week we were there the zoo had just put two hippos together for the first time in the tank.
d) True - Mr Parker, 35, from Little Rock, Arkansas, even gets fan mail from people far away telling him he is their computer screensaver or Facebook profile picture.

Question 2
a) Jay and Lauren Parker come from Little Rock, Arkansas. While they were on holiday, they took some photographs at San Diego Zoo in California in front of the hippopotamus tank there.
b) The photographs have become extremely popular on the web after Jay Parker uploaded them. Afterwards, American and Chinese blog and chat users have used it, as well as others who use it as wallpaper on their computer or as the photo for their Facebook profile.

Question 3
a) beaming
b) beast
c) pops up/(to) pop up

Question 4
a) The extraordinary photographs were taken during a holiday visit by the Parkers, from Little Rock, Arkansas, to San Diego Zoo in California.

b) If my wife wasn’t/weren’t a big fan of animals, we would not always try and visit some when we were away.

c) Mr Parker said that it was kind of strange to think that there were people out there with a picture of him on their computer, but he guessed he was just the hippo man as far as they were concerned.’

The Spy Who You May Have Met

Question 1

1. False. “one that you may have even encountered without knowing it.”
2. True. “One shopping spy went to a restaurant that had an extremely dirty toilet. She went to tell the waiter, who refused to help`, and told her that he wasn’t going to work any harder than he had to. The manager heard about the problem, and the employee was fired.”
3. False.” I just want to see if the workers are doing their job. That’s pretty much it.”
4. False. “ so shopping spies don’ t generally take the job for the benefits of the money.”

Question 2

1. They gather information about the service they get in the different places and about the workers’ job.
2. They usually take the job because it’s a funny, exciting job and they also try to make the service received in the different businesses better.

Question 3

1. gathering / to gather
2. extremely dirty
3. entranced

Question 4

1. They fired the employer a few days later.
2. Sandra Smith said that she just wanted to see if the workers were doing their job.
3. He wouldn’t have been fired if he hadn’t refused to help.

The Spy Who You May Have Met

Question 1

1. False. “one that you may have even encountered without knowing it.”
2. True. “One shopping spy went to a restaurant that had an extremely dirty toilet. She went to tell the waiter, who refused to help`, and told her that he wasn’t going to work any harder than he had to. The manager heard about the problem, and the employee was fired.”
3. False.” I just want to see if the workers are doing their job. That’s pretty much it.”
4. False. “ so shopping spies don’ t generally take the job for the benefits of the money.”

Question 2

1. They gather information about the service they get in the different places and about the workers’ job.
2. They usually take the job because it’s a funny, exciting job and they also try to make the service received in the different businesses better.

Question 3

1. gathering / to gather
2. extremely dirty
3. entranced

Question 4

1. They fired the employer a few days later.
2. Sandra Smith said that she just wanted to see if the workers were doing their job.
3. He wouldn’t have been fired if he hadn’t refused to help.

Father of the CD" Dies

Key

Question 1

a. False. “The pioneer of the compact disc (CD) Norio Ohga has died aged 81 of multiple organ failure in the Japanese capital Tokyo.”
b. True. “ Ohga was an avid music enthusiast and studied to become an opera singer in his youth.”
c. True. “ He was key in the purchase of Hollywood studio Colombia Pictures and the record company CBS.”
d. False. “He also oversaw the launch of Sony’s highly successful PlayStation game console. “

Question 2

a. CDs are the size they are because Mr. Ohga wanted a CD to store as much length of music as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony has, which is 75 minutes. That meant the CD should have a diameter of 12 cm.
b. Mr. Ohga turned Sony into an international player. He bought a Hollywood film studio and a record company and he supervised the launch of the PlayStation.

Question 3

a. pioneer
b. enthusiast
c. encompassing / to encompass

Question 4

a. Record sales were overtaken by CD sales in Japan within five years of their introduction.
b. The size of CDs has never changed / hasn’t changed since 1982.
c. Mr. Stringer said that by redefining Sony as a company encompassing both hardware and software, Mr. Ohga-san had succeeded where other Japanese companies had failed.

Father of the CD" Dies

Key

Question 1

a. False. “The pioneer of the compact disc (CD) Norio Ohga has died aged 81 of multiple organ failure in the Japanese capital Tokyo.”
b. True. “ Ohga was an avid music enthusiast and studied to become an opera singer in his youth.”
c. True. “ He was key in the purchase of Hollywood studio Colombia Pictures and the record company CBS.”
d. False. “He also oversaw the launch of Sony’s highly successful PlayStation game console. “

Question 2

a. CDs are the size they are because Mr. Ohga wanted a CD to store as much length of music as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony has, which is 75 minutes. That meant the CD should have a diameter of 12 cm.
b. Mr. Ohga turned Sony into an international player. He bought a Hollywood film studio and a record company and he supervised the launch of the PlayStation.

Question 3

a. pioneer
b. enthusiast
c. encompassing / to encompass

Question 4

a. Record sales were overtaken by CD sales in Japan within five years of their introduction.
b. The size of CDs has never changed / hasn’t changed since 1982.
c. Mr. Stringer said that by redefining Sony as a company encompassing both hardware and software, Mr. Ohga-san had succeeded where other Japanese companies had failed.

Google launches Latin translation tool

Key
Question 1
a) True Google Translate, a service that can instantly translate entire web pages or chunks of text in to another language,
b) False Google Translate supports more than 50 languages, including minority languages such as Welsh and Haitian Creole,
c) False In a blog post, written entirely in Latin, Jakob Uszkoreit, a senior engineer at Google,
d) False Google has also added a Latin text-to-speech function, too, to help people with their pronunciation.
Question 2
a) A considerable number of people around the planet study Latin and more than 1000,000 Americans sit the National Latin Exam annually.
b) Latin texts are rarely written these days, meaning that translations already exist and they can be fed into Google Translate to create the programme.
Question 3
a) please/to please
b) a wealth
c) crucially
Question 4
a) The National Latin Exam is taken by over 100,000 American students every year and Latin is learnt by many more all over the world.
b) I asked James what lessons he had had that morning.
c) People want to read the many important texts that/which were written in Latin.

Google launches Latin translation tool

Key
Question 1
a) True Google Translate, a service that can instantly translate entire web pages or chunks of text in to another language,
b) False Google Translate supports more than 50 languages, including minority languages such as Welsh and Haitian Creole,
c) False In a blog post, written entirely in Latin, Jakob Uszkoreit, a senior engineer at Google,
d) False Google has also added a Latin text-to-speech function, too, to help people with their pronunciation.
Question 2
a) A considerable number of people around the planet study Latin and more than 1000,000 Americans sit the National Latin Exam annually.
b) Latin texts are rarely written these days, meaning that translations already exist and they can be fed into Google Translate to create the programme.
Question 3
a) please/to please
b) a wealth
c) crucially
Question 4
a) The National Latin Exam is taken by over 100,000 American students every year and Latin is learnt by many more all over the world.
b) I asked James what lessons he had had that morning.
c) People want to read the many important texts that/which were written in Latin.

Meditation Better Than Pain-Killers

KEY

Question 1
a. False. “…. a technique called “focused attention,” which is a form of meditation where people focus their thoughts only on their breathing.”
b. False. “…only a little over an hour of meditation training can dramatically reduce both the experience of pain ………..about a 40 per cent reduction in pain intensity and a 57 per cent reduction in pain.
c. False. “The study involved a group of volunteers who had never meditated before.”
d. True. “Before and after the meditation training, the researchers examined the participants’ brain activity using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). The MRI scans showed that after the meditation training, pain felt by every volunteer decreased from between 11 to 93 per cent.“

Question 2
a. The investigation took place in the USA. They used an approach known as “focused attention“, where people concentrate exclusively on their breathing while they meditate.
b. They gave people with no previous expreience of meditating four classes to show them how to meditate focusing on their breath. The activity in these people’s brains was tested before and after the experiment and during the experiment, they made them feel some pain by putting heat on their legs.

Question 3
a. unpleasantness b. intensity c. placed/place

Question 4
a. Dr. Zeidan said that that was the first study to show/that showed that only a little meditation could reduce the experience of pain.
b. The participants’ brain activity was examined by the researchers.
c. If they didn’t use the “ focused attention“ technique, they would feel more pain.

Meditation Better Than Pain-Killers

KEY

Question 1
a. False. “…. a technique called “focused attention,” which is a form of meditation where people focus their thoughts only on their breathing.”
b. False. “…only a little over an hour of meditation training can dramatically reduce both the experience of pain ………..about a 40 per cent reduction in pain intensity and a 57 per cent reduction in pain.
c. False. “The study involved a group of volunteers who had never meditated before.”
d. True. “Before and after the meditation training, the researchers examined the participants’ brain activity using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). The MRI scans showed that after the meditation training, pain felt by every volunteer decreased from between 11 to 93 per cent.“

Question 2
a. The investigation took place in the USA. They used an approach known as “focused attention“, where people concentrate exclusively on their breathing while they meditate.
b. They gave people with no previous expreience of meditating four classes to show them how to meditate focusing on their breath. The activity in these people’s brains was tested before and after the experiment and during the experiment, they made them feel some pain by putting heat on their legs.

Question 3
a. unpleasantness b. intensity c. placed/place

Question 4
a. Dr. Zeidan said that that was the first study to show/that showed that only a little meditation could reduce the experience of pain.
b. The participants’ brain activity was examined by the researchers.
c. If they didn’t use the “ focused attention“ technique, they would feel more pain.

Invitations arrive for Royal wedding

Key
Question 1
a) True “The Royal wedding on April 29 will be a regal affair, with more than 50 members of the Royal Family and 40 members of foreign royal families in attendance.”
b) False “The guest list for the Abbey will be whittled down to 600 for the lunch time reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by the Queen, and just 300 of the couple's closest family and friends will go on to attend the "intimate" dinner”
c) True “There will be two versions of the invitation sent to guests for day-time events - one inviting them to the ceremony at the Abbey only and ther also including details of the Buckingham Palace reception. A separate invitation will be sent to the couple's close friends and family for the dinner.”
d) False “Middleton arrive at Westminster Abbey by car, but leave with her new husband in a horse-drawn carriage”

Question 2
a) Among the 1900 guests will be people from the Royal Families of Britain and abroad, leaders from other countries and British politicians. However, most guests will be relatives or friends of the bride and groom.
b) A lot of people will line the streets along the route in London whereas a huge number will follow the service and festivities via television, in their own living rooms or as part of the celebrations held in towns and villages and at important tourist sites.

Question 3
a) affair
b) whittle down/whittled down
c) throng

Question 4
a) ) Hugo Vickers said that it struck him as an entirely sensible and predictable type of list because William would one day be king “
b) TV channels around the world will broadcast the celebrations live and they expect (that) millions of people will watch them.
c) Although there have been 14 royal weddings at Westminster Abbey since 1100, there were none betw

Invitations arrive for Royal wedding

Key
Question 1
a) True “The Royal wedding on April 29 will be a regal affair, with more than 50 members of the Royal Family and 40 members of foreign royal families in attendance.”
b) False “The guest list for the Abbey will be whittled down to 600 for the lunch time reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by the Queen, and just 300 of the couple's closest family and friends will go on to attend the "intimate" dinner”
c) True “There will be two versions of the invitation sent to guests for day-time events - one inviting them to the ceremony at the Abbey only and ther also including details of the Buckingham Palace reception. A separate invitation will be sent to the couple's close friends and family for the dinner.”
d) False “Middleton arrive at Westminster Abbey by car, but leave with her new husband in a horse-drawn carriage”

Question 2
a) Among the 1900 guests will be people from the Royal Families of Britain and abroad, leaders from other countries and British politicians. However, most guests will be relatives or friends of the bride and groom.
b) A lot of people will line the streets along the route in London whereas a huge number will follow the service and festivities via television, in their own living rooms or as part of the celebrations held in towns and villages and at important tourist sites.

Question 3
a) affair
b) whittle down/whittled down
c) throng

Question 4
a) ) Hugo Vickers said that it struck him as an entirely sensible and predictable type of list because William would one day be king “
b) TV channels around the world will broadcast the celebrations live and they expect (that) millions of people will watch them.
c) Although there have been 14 royal weddings at Westminster Abbey since 1100, there were none betw

Clothes that change colour

KEY
Question 1

a. False. “A new thread developed for the military..”
b. False. “Within the next two years, the U.S. Army plans to weave Fink's new thread into uniforms.”
c. True. “ …equipped with a tiny, lightweight battery pack. When you want to change your suit or dress from, say, black to red, you flick a switch on the pack to zap the fabric with an electric change.”
d. True. “ … the thread changes thickness—and your outfit changes colour.“

Question 2

a. The new fibre will be very convenient for soldiers since it will make it possible to tell a friend froma an enemy during the night or when it is not easy to see clearly.
b. The fashion industry will use the new thread in clothes so that people will be able to change the boring clours of work clothes into brighter ones for going out. It will also be used for accesories, shoes and even home linen.

Question 3

a.to distinguish
b. envisions / to envision
c. fabric

Question 4

a. An innovative process has been developed by Yoel Fink and his colleagues.
b. T. M. Gunn said that what professor Fink had done was incredibly revolutionary.
c. If I hadn’t wanted to change the colour of my clothes, I wouldn’t have switched a switch on the pack.

Clothes that change colour

KEY
Question 1

a. False. “A new thread developed for the military..”
b. False. “Within the next two years, the U.S. Army plans to weave Fink's new thread into uniforms.”
c. True. “ …equipped with a tiny, lightweight battery pack. When you want to change your suit or dress from, say, black to red, you flick a switch on the pack to zap the fabric with an electric change.”
d. True. “ … the thread changes thickness—and your outfit changes colour.“

Question 2

a. The new fibre will be very convenient for soldiers since it will make it possible to tell a friend froma an enemy during the night or when it is not easy to see clearly.
b. The fashion industry will use the new thread in clothes so that people will be able to change the boring clours of work clothes into brighter ones for going out. It will also be used for accesories, shoes and even home linen.

Question 3

a.to distinguish
b. envisions / to envision
c. fabric

Question 4

a. An innovative process has been developed by Yoel Fink and his colleagues.
b. T. M. Gunn said that what professor Fink had done was incredibly revolutionary.
c. If I hadn’t wanted to change the colour of my clothes, I wouldn’t have switched a switch on the pack.

The Playbutton

KEY

Matching exercise
1 hang on to something - a) keep, not throw away or discard
2 set up a firm or company - b) start a business
3 embrace the technology – f) start using the device
4 attach to your clothes - e) fasten onto what you are wearing
5 replace with other content - c) substitute with other music
6 support financially - g) help by giving money
7 go on sale - d) be available to buy

PAU questions
Question 1
a) False After working for a company called Powershovel, where he developed a Super-8 digital camera called Harinezumi, Dangerfield set up his own firm
b) True But why would someone want to spend $20 (€14) on this when the same album will be available on iTunes for just 9 euros?
c) True Dangerfield and his business partner, the Spaniard Víctor Esther, who is also the art director, eventually want to create a small record label that will produce albums in Playbutton format.
d) False The Playbutton will soon go on sale at Madrid's Casa Peseta.

Question 2
a) A Playbutton is a gadget that plays one album of songs. It is not possible to change the order of the songs or to remove any of them from the Playbutton. You wear it on your clothes. It has a battery that lasts for four hours.
b) Bubbles is a music group that is popular in New York. A short time ago, the group presented its latest album, which is only available through Playbutton at a party.

Question 3
a) creator
b) delete/deleted
c) port

Question 4
a) Paul asked Maria if she had ever been to Sydney.
b) If we had not arrived (so) late, we could have caught the plane. OR If we had not arrived (so) late, we would not have missed the plane. OR If we had arrived earlier, we would have caught the plane. OR If we had arrived earlier, we would not have missed the plane.

The Playbutton

KEY

Matching exercise
1 hang on to something - a) keep, not throw away or discard
2 set up a firm or company - b) start a business
3 embrace the technology – f) start using the device
4 attach to your clothes - e) fasten onto what you are wearing
5 replace with other content - c) substitute with other music
6 support financially - g) help by giving money
7 go on sale - d) be available to buy

PAU questions
Question 1
a) False After working for a company called Powershovel, where he developed a Super-8 digital camera called Harinezumi, Dangerfield set up his own firm
b) True But why would someone want to spend $20 (€14) on this when the same album will be available on iTunes for just 9 euros?
c) True Dangerfield and his business partner, the Spaniard Víctor Esther, who is also the art director, eventually want to create a small record label that will produce albums in Playbutton format.
d) False The Playbutton will soon go on sale at Madrid's Casa Peseta.

Question 2
a) A Playbutton is a gadget that plays one album of songs. It is not possible to change the order of the songs or to remove any of them from the Playbutton. You wear it on your clothes. It has a battery that lasts for four hours.
b) Bubbles is a music group that is popular in New York. A short time ago, the group presented its latest album, which is only available through Playbutton at a party.

Question 3
a) creator
b) delete/deleted
c) port

Question 4
a) Paul asked Maria if she had ever been to Sydney.
b) If we had not arrived (so) late, we could have caught the plane. OR If we had not arrived (so) late, we would not have missed the plane. OR If we had arrived earlier, we would have caught the plane. OR If we had arrived earlier, we would not have missed the plane.

Police to send warning letters to parents of Facebook bullies

KEY

Question 1.

a. False. “ Detectives will start sending messages to cyber bullies.“
b. True. “ the first crackdown on social networking taunting which has led youngsters to commit suicide.“
c. False. “Social networkers, whatever their age, often don't think about what they are writing in the same way they would think about what they write in a letter or an email.“
d. False. “ Pc Thomas will work with young volunteers to investigate and deal with reports of bullying or harassment on Facebook.“

Question 2.

a. The police are going to inform facebook parents’ bullies by mail and they are also going to inform the bullies themeselves by sending them messages through the social network site. They want to make them aware of the seriousness of their online actions and the possible consequences these actions may have.

b. Cyber bullies might be considered criminals, get charged and taken to court, which would have bad effects on their life in the future.

Question 3

a. crackdown on b. to harass c. charged

Question 4.

a. Letters from the police will be received by the parents of Facebook bullies.
b. He said that they wanted them to realise how serious the matter was.
c. If social networkers didn´t send disturbing messages, the police wouldn´t investigate them.

Police to send warning letters to parents of Facebook bullies

KEY

Question 1.

a. False. “ Detectives will start sending messages to cyber bullies.“
b. True. “ the first crackdown on social networking taunting which has led youngsters to commit suicide.“
c. False. “Social networkers, whatever their age, often don't think about what they are writing in the same way they would think about what they write in a letter or an email.“
d. False. “ Pc Thomas will work with young volunteers to investigate and deal with reports of bullying or harassment on Facebook.“

Question 2.

a. The police are going to inform facebook parents’ bullies by mail and they are also going to inform the bullies themeselves by sending them messages through the social network site. They want to make them aware of the seriousness of their online actions and the possible consequences these actions may have.

b. Cyber bullies might be considered criminals, get charged and taken to court, which would have bad effects on their life in the future.

Question 3

a. crackdown on b. to harass c. charged

Question 4.

a. Letters from the police will be received by the parents of Facebook bullies.
b. He said that they wanted them to realise how serious the matter was.
c. If social networkers didn´t send disturbing messages, the police wouldn´t investigate them.

More students cheating on university applications

Key

Question 1

a) True. Almost a third of applicants failed to get on to degree courses last year. Demand for places is expected to be even more fierce in 2011, with some 583,500 people submitting applications by the end of January – a rise of more than five per cent.

b) False. The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) has been employing Copycatch – for several years.

c) False. When it was first employed in 2007, it found cheating in five per cent of applications. .. latest figures show the proportion of personal statements containing plagiarism increased by around a third to 3.85 per cent in 2010

d) False. 275 started applications with the line “Nursing is a very challenging and demanding career”,

Question 2

a) A personal statement is part of the application process for students in the UK who want to go to university. They have to explain in writing why they wish to study for a particular degree. In their statement, candidates have to try to show that they are different from the rest but it should be their own work.

b) UCAS uses a computer programme which is capable of contrasting the content of personal statements with published documents.

Question 3

a) quote b) attempt/attempting c) awareness

Question 4

a) Personal statements for design courses from 189 candidates attempting to study design courses started with a quote from Coco Chanel.

b) Due to a rise of more than five per cent in people submitting applications by the end of January, the demand for places is expected to be even fiercer in 2011,

c) A Ucas spokesman said that the personal statement was one of the most important parts of the online application process and that it gave applicants the chance to stand out from the crowd, which was why it should be /should have been an individual, and personal, piece of work.

More students cheating on university applications

Key

Question 1

a) True. Almost a third of applicants failed to get on to degree courses last year. Demand for places is expected to be even more fierce in 2011, with some 583,500 people submitting applications by the end of January – a rise of more than five per cent.

b) False. The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) has been employing Copycatch – for several years.

c) False. When it was first employed in 2007, it found cheating in five per cent of applications. .. latest figures show the proportion of personal statements containing plagiarism increased by around a third to 3.85 per cent in 2010

d) False. 275 started applications with the line “Nursing is a very challenging and demanding career”,

Question 2

a) A personal statement is part of the application process for students in the UK who want to go to university. They have to explain in writing why they wish to study for a particular degree. In their statement, candidates have to try to show that they are different from the rest but it should be their own work.

b) UCAS uses a computer programme which is capable of contrasting the content of personal statements with published documents.

Question 3

a) quote b) attempt/attempting c) awareness

Question 4

a) Personal statements for design courses from 189 candidates attempting to study design courses started with a quote from Coco Chanel.

b) Due to a rise of more than five per cent in people submitting applications by the end of January, the demand for places is expected to be even fiercer in 2011,

c) A Ucas spokesman said that the personal statement was one of the most important parts of the online application process and that it gave applicants the chance to stand out from the crowd, which was why it should be /should have been an individual, and personal, piece of work.