1.

Meeting Marvin Gaye

When I first met Marvin Gaye in his Sunset Strip studio, I had just (0)
>>>>>>> a two-year project co-writing the autobiography of Ray Charles, an
inspiring collaborator, but an authoritative and often (1) >>>>>>> figure.
Marvin came on like a brother. He was warm, witty and (2) >>>>>>> to laugh.
He spoke like he sang, in whisper-quiet melodies and soft falsettos. His
conversation had a lyricism all of its (3) >>>>>>> . His affectations - a slight
British accent when he was feeling aristocratic, for example - were more than (4)
>>>>>>> by his disarming sincerity. We became friends. I felt (5)
>>>>>>>to watch him work and play up-close. It soon became clear that, like
his music, his personal life was (6) >>>>>>>with dramatic contradictions, a
combination of charm and chaos. Because he was a hero of mine, and because
his art was so dazzlingly beautiful - so self-contained, so accomplished, so (7)
>>>>>>> slick - it took me a (8) >>>>>>> to realise my hero was drowning.

1 A distant B faint C secluded D far-away

2 A prompt B impulsive C abrupt D quick
3 A type B self C like D own
4 A set against B weighed up C made up for D settled up with
5 A advantageous B privileged C indulgent D gainful
6 A inundated B filled C plentiful D dense
7 A appreciably B fully C utterly D sorely
8 A while B phase C length D course

2. Laughing is Good for You - Seriously

It is a sad fact (0) that adults laugh far less than children, sometimes (9) . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . as much as a couple of hundred times a day. Just take a (10) . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . at people's faces on the way to work or in the office: you'll be
lucky to see a smile, let (11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hear a laugh . This is a shame
- especially in (12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of the fact that scientists have proved
that laughing is good for you. 'When you laugh,' says psychologist David Cohen,
'it produces the feel-good hormones, endorphins. It counters the effects of stress
(13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . enhances the immune system.' There are many (14) .
. . . . . . .. . . . . . . why we might laugh less in adult life : perhaps we are too
work-obsessed, or too embarrassed to (15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . our emotions
show. Some psychologists simply believe that children have more naive
responses, and as adults we naturally grow (16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of
spontaneous reactions.
3. A Message for Lisa
It was nearly two weeks later that Lisa arrived at college to find there was a
message for her. The voice teacher, Pete, said she ' d have to go up to the head
office to (0) collect . it. Lisa wanted to know what was in the message and who
it was from, but the voice teacher insisted it was (1) >>>>>>> ' Can't you just
tell me? ' Lisa (2) >>>>>>>, but Pete jutted his chin and said he was only (3)
>>>>>>> the rules. Lisa stretched her eyes at him. She had been brought up
to be (4) >>>>>>> of anyone who believed in rules. The head office was on the
third floor. Lisa's fantasies grew with each turn of the stairs. Each flap of swing
door (5) >>>>>>> sweeter and sweeter thoughts of her and Quentin' s
reconciliation. It (6) >>>>>>> to her only a second before she slid through into
the dusty light of the office that Quentin had no (7) >>>>>>> of knowing that
she was at college, and even if he did, it was unlikely he would know which
college she was at . 'Lisa.' The head of department was talking to her. 'Someone
has been looking for you .' Lisa's change of heart was so severe it (8) >>>>>>>
her breath away.

1. A confidential B intimate C clandestine D undercover

2. A pleaded B asserted C craved D pledged
3. A fulfilling B obeying C conforming D complying
4. A guarded B uneasy C wary D edgy
5. A led B arose C brought D put
6. A struck B occurred C dawned D sprang
7. A access B route C scope D way
8. A caught B drew C held D took

4. Advertising in Britain
What does (0) it say about a nation that when a national newspaper recently set
(9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .to establish the best television adverts of all time, as
(10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . as 10,000 people responded? The answer lies (11) . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . the fact that the British have developed an intense admiration
for a genre that has developed into an art form in its (12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
right. In 1955 , when Gibbs SR toothpaste broadcast the first TV commercial, it
was inconceivable that ads would ever end (13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . being
considered as sophisticated and innovative as the programmes surrounding (14)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yet by 1978, the author Jonathan Price was able to
declare : ' Financially, commercials represent the pinnacle of our popular culture
's artistic expression. More money and thought per second goes into (15) . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . making and more cash flows from their impact than (16) . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . the case for any movie, opera, stage play, painting or videotape.'
5. Planetary Artistry By Johanna Kieniewicz

For me, the highlight of this past week's science news was the images
(1) …..... back from the Curiosity rover, providing (2) …..... geologic
evidence that water flowed on Mars. Of course, this wasn't exactly a
surprise; for decades, planetary scientists have suggested the channel
networks visible in spacecraft imagery couldn't have been made by
anything else. The evidence has been (3) …..... as well, as various clay
minerals and iron oxides have been identified through hyperspectral
imagery.

Nonetheless, I suspect that the image of definitely water-lain (4) ….....

made the heart of more than one geologist (5) …..... a beat. Ground
truth. You could argue that the scientific exploration of the extra-
terrestrial is, at least (6) …..... part, a search for meaning: to position us
within a larger cosmology. But our fascination with, and connection to,
what we see in the night sky comes not just through science, but also
through art. So it should come as no surprise that scientific images of
planetary surfaces have (7) …..... inspiration to a range of artists from
Galileo - whose first sketches of the moon through a telescope are (8)
…..... beautiful - to Barbara Hepworth - whose interpretations of the
lunar surface are far less literal.

1 A thrown B Shot C beamed D fired

2 A final B conclusive C proved D guaranteed
3 A swelling B expanding C increasing D mounting
4 A sediments B Dross C grounds D matter
5 A slip B Lose C skip D jump
6 A with B In C at D for
7 A offered B provided C given D Made
8 A totally B doubtlessly C surely D truly
6. Global English

Global English exists (0) AS a political and cultural reality. Many

misguided theories attempt to explain why the English language should
have succeeded internationally, whilst (1) … have not. Is it because
there is something inherently logical or beautiful about the structure of
English? Does its simple grammar make it easy to learn? Such ideas are
misconceived. Latin was once a major international language, (2) …
having a complicated grammatical structure, and English also presents
learners with all manner of real difficulties, (3) … least its spelling
system. Ease of learning, therefore, has little to do with it. (4) … all,
children learn to speak their mother tongue in approximately the same
period of time, (5) … of their language. English has spread not (6) …
much for linguistic reasons, but rather because it has often found (7) …
in the right place, at the right time. Since the 1960s, two major
developments have contributed to strengthening this global status.
Firstly, in a number of countries, English is now used in addition to
national or regional languages. As well as this, an electronic revolution
has taken place. It is estimated that (8) … the region of 80% of
worldwide electronic communication is now in English.

1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
7. THE RAVEN
A very large fierce black bird, the raven has always been (0) C with evil
omen. But the myths and stories that surround ravens also take account
of their unusual intelligence, their ability to (1) >>>>>> sounds and
voices and the way they seem to (2) >>>>>> up a situation. The fact is,
people have never known quite how to (3) >>>>>> the raven. In many
northern myths he was creator of the world, bringer of daylight, but also
an aggressive trickster. Many traditional stories turn on the unpleasant
ways in which Raven gets the (4) >>>>>> of a human adversary.
Legend (5) >>>>>> it that when there are no more ravens in the Tower
of London, the monarchy will fall. In the seventeenth century King Charles
II (6) >>>>>> that at least six ravens should always be kept in the
Tower. Today there are seven; six to preserve the monarchy, and a
seventh in (7) >>>>>> . To the amusement of tourists, the ravens are
officially enlisted as defenders of the kingdom, and, as is the (8)
>>>>>> with soldiers, can be dismissed for unsatisfactory conduct.

1 A fake B mimic C mirror D simulate

2 A size B match C eye D catch
3 A put B work C pick D take
4 A best B most C better D good
5 A holds B states C has D keeps
6 A decreed B compelled C required D enacted
7 A substitution B reserve C continuity D standby
8 A truth B issue C circumstance D case
8. THE GREATEST ICE-SKATING COMEDIAN EVER
Werner Groebli was undoubtedly (0) ONE of the most famous ice-skating
comedians of all time. But even to his many fans the name will mean
nothing. They knew him as Frick – from the ice-skating partnership Frick
and Frack – a skater with an outstanding ability to combine complex skills
with zany and contorted body positions that often had audiences (9)
>>>>>> stitches. Good (10) >>>>>> to be Swiss junior skating
champion, Groebli nevertheless got more (11) >>>>>> of fooling
around, ridiculing, as he put (12) >>>>>> , ‘the pomposity of
professional skaters’. Frick and Frack were praised for their grace, comic
timing and daring acrobatics. (13) >>>>>> than depending on falls or
costumes to get laughs, the duo were celebrated for taking the traditional
elements of figure skating and distorting them into amazing feats that left
audiences enthralled. One crowd favourite involved Frack throwing Frick
an invisible rope, (14) >>>>>> which point he would slowly glide forward
as though (15) >>>>>> pulled. (16) >>>>>> was ‘the farmer’, in
which the duo would skate as if sitting on a bouncing tractor seat.

1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9. Hormones and love
Men and women are often considered to be completely at odds with each

other, in terms (1) their attitudes and behaviour. Not so when

they are in love, new research has discovered. As far as their hormone

levels are (2) , when men and women are in love, they are more

similar to each other (3) at any other time.

It has (4) been known that love can (5) havoc with

hormone levels. For example the hormone cortisol, (6) is known for
its calming effect on the body, dips dramatically when one person is attracted to

(7) , putting the love-struck on a par with sufferers of obsessive

compulsive disorder.

But a new study has found that the hormone testosterone, commonly associated
with male aggression, also falls when he is in love. In women, it's quite the

(8) . Testosterone levels, which (9) to be lower among

females, rise towards (10) of the male.

Donatella Marazziti of the University of Pisa, Italy, (11) this down to

nature attempting to eliminate the differences between the sexes.

(12) doing so, they can concentrate fully

(13) reproduction.

This suggestion seems to be supported by the fact that (14) couples

in a long (15) relationship, nor participants in the study who were

single at the time of the experiment, exhibited such changes.
10. Living in Cities.

Urbanization has been a constant 1. in human development for the

past ten thousand years. 2. there has always been the necessity for a

minimum - sometimes a very substantial minimum - of the 3. to work

the land, such surplus individuals as can be 4. have tended to gather in

cities. Two thousand years ago, the cities of antiquity 5. an

administrative 6. for the surrounding area, and a refuge from attack. In

the Middle Ages, it was the city folk 7. were the first to break the
stultifying grip of feudalism, and it was in the cities of Northern Italy that

the 8. of the Renaissance was 9. . Today only a fraction of

mankind lives in the country, and the 10. which does so is decreasing.
Mega-cities with populations exceeding ten million are common, and they will

become even 11. so over the coming decades. While

many 12. of city life are unattractive - pollution, stress, and separation

from 13. to name but a few - more and more of

humanity 14. to be choosing an urban existence.15. to this

fact is going to be 16. of the major challenges of the coming century.

And 17. of the country? The 18. are that its relative decline

will be reversed as the information revolution 19. it possible to enjoy

the benefits of social contact 20. needing to leave one's rural

residence.
11.

12.121211.

12.
13.

14.
15.

16.
17.

18.