Answer Keys
Part 1
1 A — dispose. The only word that takes the ‘of’ preposition here.
2 B — matter. ‘A matter of course’ is something that is to be expected.
3 B — notice. The meaning that is needed here is that of doing something subconsciously, without paying attention to it (or noticing it).
4 B — occur. ‘To occur to someone’ means ‘to become known, clear or obvious’. Other options do not go with ‘to’.
5 A — inconvenienced. The word means ‘being caused trouble or discomfort’.
6 A — light-hearted. To choose the right answer, you have to look at the next sentence for the description of ‘gimmick’ mentioned here. It’s the rubbish bin that say ‘thank you’. It’s a light-hearted gimmick – a feature that doesn’t take itself seriously and meant as a joke.
7 D — mind. ‘With something in mind’ means ‘considering something’.
8 B — do. Another set expression, ‘to do the trick’ means to achieve something, to succeed in doing it.
Part 2
9 which. ‘Which’ clause here refers to ‘were used’ later on in the sentence.
10 many. ‘As many as’ construction is used to emphasise a surprisingly large number.
11 According. ‘As said by’. Note that capitalisation is not important in this task, as all of your letters in the answer form should be capitalised.
12 other. The author rephrases the previous statement using different constructions.
13 addition. An additional argument is introduced at the beginning of a new paragraph.
14 Besides. A synonym for ‘in addition to’, albeit a more concise one. Keep in mind that you can’t use more than one word for each gap.
15 little. ‘Little or no’ is a set expression opposite to ‘as many as’, but used with uncountable nouns and meaning a very small amount of something.
16 own. The meaning ‘on their own’ in this context is ‘isolated, without any context’.
Part 3
17 misconceptions. It is important to read on as far as the beginning of the next paragraph to understand whether the required word should or shouldn’t have a negative prefix. Paragraph Two goes on to dispel some of the myths about black widow spiders.
18 comparison. Two different poisons are compared. Note the spelling of the word.
19 fatalities. A fatality is any unfortunate incident that results in death. Note that the word has to be in plural (the following verb ‘to be’ is pluralised).
20 solitary. Used to being alone.
21 occurrences. Spelling is key here. Double ‘c’, double ‘r’. Getting the word right but spelling it is regarded as an incorrect answer.
22 unpleasant. The context clearly suggests a negative adjective.
23 underestimated. To regard something as less important or dangerous than it is.
24 precautions. A tricky question. The plural form here is required as the set phrase is ‘to take precautions’.
Part 4
25 highly likely/probable (that) this novel will
26 insisted on us/our staying
27 no matter what time it may/might
28 no account am I to be / must I be / should I be
29 it not been for Mark
30 will have started by the time
Part 5
31 A. In the middle of the first paragraph: ‘… I eventually allowed myself to be dragged along by a friend of mine to talk to an osteopath…’. The verb ‘dragged along’ denotes the writers unwillingness to address her health issues.
32 B. The author believed that one was born with bad posture, then refutes her own misconception by illustrating the opposite with a number of examples, such as car mechanics and dentists.
33 C. ‘Strenuous’ is the key word here. The meaning is ‘requiring a lot of physical or mental effort’. This is mentioned in the second sentence, how you should not over-stress your body but instead choose a way that doesn’t put too much strain on your muscles.
34 D. Sentence three of this paragraph says, that the habits can be hard to break.Answer A is not mentioned. B is incorrect – last sentence claims that bad habits ‘can’ affect, not ‘will’. Nothing is said about bad habits that stem from our childhood.
35 B. The reason the technique was invented was to restore Alexander’s voice. Answers A and C are not mentioned. Answer D refers to him moving to London, where he has established his own school. However, nothing is said about his original intention, his moving was merely incidental.
36 B. Answers A and C touch upon mentioned ideas, however they can’t be called the main topic of this text. Answer D topic is a bit more developed, however it is Answer B that is prevalent throughout the text.
Part 6
37 A. Speaker A is the only one seeing hosting the Olympics as a potential investment, whereas others see no monetary gains from such venture.
38 C. Both speakers state that one of the positive impacts of hosting the Olympics is the increased appeal of sport as an activity. Paragraph B, last sentence: ‘… exercise and fitness become cool things to aspire to’. Paragraph C: ‘There is the sporting legacy too, with the greatest athletes from around the world inspiring mass participation, a crucial development when modern lifestyles tend to have a significantly detrimental effect on fitness and health’.
39 D. Speaker D is the only one believing that the Olympics do more harm than good to the host country in terms of bringing people together. As stated there, most events take place in a handful of large cities, with smaller towns being left out, and therefore a feeling of injustice appears.
40 C. Both authors believe in a positive impact of hosting country exposure. Paragraph A, in the middle: ‘The international media focus on the Games can also lift the host country’s profile to another level’. Paragraph C, second sentence states that the country gets a chance to show how it has all it takes.
Part 7
41 B. The preceding paragraph ends with the analogy of books and animals and how we could learn from them. Then, Paragraph B continues the idea of things we could learn from various species.
42 D. This paragraph begins with ‘This growth…’ referring to the increasing number of people seeking wildlife tourism programs. It then ends with the mention of people willing to experience all the thrill, rather than watch it all on TV, and the following paragraph starts with the mention of TV contribution to popularising wildlife tourism.
43 G. Starting with ‘It is a term which is overused…’, the term mentioned is ‘ecotourism’ that the preceding paragraph ends with.
44 E. Beginning of Paragraph E: ‘Despite being an important part of the population there’ refers to the Maasai people in Kenya.
45 F. ‘research and conservation’ mentioned at the end of the previous paragraph is exactly what Earthwatch project does – to actively help with conservation of endangered species. Next paragraph gives another example of a similar project.
46 A. The pronoun ‘he’ at the beginning of Paragraph A refers to Dr Matthias Hammer.
Part 8
47 C. Last but one sentence: ‘… there will be readers who fail to make it past the first couple of chapters.’
48 D. In sentence six of this paragraph, the book is called to be of ‘antiself-help self-help’ genre. This genre is mentioned to be ‘swelling’, or increasing.
49 B. Last sentence of Paragraph B poses a question of the usefulness of the information in the book.
50 A. At the beginning of the paragraph, the ‘insights that may never have been expressed quite like this before’ are mentioned, that seem to be quite useful.
51 D. Sentences four and five on the classical self-help book approach: ‘Many self-help books these days would shout ‘Yes!’ Oliver Burkeman isn’t so sure.’
52 C. Second sentence of this paragraph says that if the book turns out to be successful, then we are going to be in a ‘glut of writing’ of similar books. A glut is an excessive amount of something, much more than is actually required.
53 D. At the end of the paragraph, the previous book by the same author is said to be separated into short parts, whereas his more recent one is much more detailed.
54 B. The middle of the paragraph complains how the argument in the book ‘seems to bounce from place to place’. It is also mentioned, that the contents of the book are ‘atomised’, or haven’t got any connection between its elements.
55 D. The middle of the paragraph focuses on how this book takes a different approach, without promising us to live trouble-free, happy lives, but instead to change our perception of things.
56 A. Last but one sentence complains about the book being at times a bit frustrating to read because of its content’s complexity.