Part 6

You are going to read an article about how a desert marathon runner found a pet dog. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap (37-42). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. 

The desert runner and the dog

The story of how a homeless dog became an internet star and found a home in the UK begins in China, in the Gobi Desert, during an ultramarathon in which competitors cross 250 kilometres of desert in seven days. The dog ‘adopted’ Australian marathon runner Dion Leonard when it chose to join the racers on the second day. Leonard’s affection for the dog grew as it ran hour after hour with him in the harsh desert conditions, and by the last stage of the race, they could not be separated. He named her Gobi, after the desert.

37 __. He claims she helped him do so well in the race. In fact, Gobi set the pace for Leonard, and the two days she didn’t run with him, his times were not as fast as when she did. He added that she sometimes beat him too – but when Gobi ran too quickly she would stop and wait for him to catch up, and then they would continue together.

Dion Leonard’s affection for the dog was so strong that he decided he would take her back to Scotland, where he currently lives. 38 __. This included setting up a crowdfunding campaign (raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people) on the internet to cover the costs of medical and fitness checks for Gobi and for her to be flown to Scotland.

However, the drama of the story increased when Gobi disappeared just before she was due to travel to Beijing. 39 __. She had escaped by dashing outside through an open door in Urumqi, the Chinese city where some of the ultramarathon race team were caring for her.

After hearing this news, Leonard took a flight back to China as soon as he could, and began to search for Gobi. He knew there was little chance of finding Gobi on his own, so he set up a media and social media campaign, and put posters up all over the city. Soon, groups of local volunteers were helping him hunt for Gobi all across Urumqi, looking in parks and dog shelters, and asking all the people they came across whether they’d seen the dog. Leonard became quite well-known after he was interviewed by local television, and people often stopped him in the street to wish him luck and give him encouragement. 40 __.

Leonard didn’t give in, and eventually the call that he’d been waiting for came: a man and his son had seen a small dog while walking their dog in a local park. 41 __. Leonard was doubtful – the man had sent pictures, but they were a bit too dark to be able to identify the dog as Gobi.

When he walked into the room where they agreed to meet the man with the dog he’d found, Leonard was not feeling at all hopeful that it was Gobi. But as soon as the dog saw him, she rushed towards him and jumped up, barking excitedly. 42 __. He’s deeply grateful to the residents of Urumqi, as he would never have found her if they hadn’t helped him in his search.

A. He soon found that the process for achieving this was difficult and expensive, so he returned home and started making arrangements from there.
B. They had taken her home and thought she could be Gobi.
C. It was as if the two had never been apart, and Leonard says he felt just like he had when they were racing together.
D. She had to be monitored there for three months before she was allowed to travel out of China.
E. Leonard managed to win second place in the race, despite having to carry Gobi across rivers and giving her food and water from the supplies he had to carry.
F. Furthermore, he feared the dog could easily have run a long way out into the surrounding countryside.
G. Leonard even launched a live blog to keep people interested in and up-to-date with his search.

Part 7

You are going to read an article about what five young people think about fame. For questions 43 – 52, choose from the sections (A – D). The people may be chosen more than once.

Which person…

43. admits he finds certain aspects of fame attractive? __
44. believes that fame makes those who get it focus too much on themselves? __
45. describes some common beliefs about fame that he feels are untrue? __
46. is critical of the way that famous people are treated? __
47. says he is uninterested in the details of famous people’s lives? __
48. thinks being famous makes people distrust the motives of people they are close to? __
49. outlines how fame can benefit society? __
50. explains why he has some respect for everyone who is famous? __
51. lists some of the ways that people might attract an audience? __
52. suggests childhood experiences may cause some people to seek fame? __

Fame and fortune

A Stefan
Fame will bring you all the money, attention and love you could ever want! It will solve all your problems and make you feel fantastic! You’ll never feel lonely ever again! These are the kind of lies about being famous the media feeds society through various channels. We are taught to highly value public attention, which celebrity-chasing individuals can get by eating insects in online videos, living in a crowded TV house, or being cruel or offensive on social media – it seems how we get it does not matter.

B Leo
One thing I’ve noticed about famous people is that they’ve often been through a negative event during their early lives – like the loss of a parent, or being rejected by a key figure in their lives. This has left them with a lack of self-confidence, which drives them to seek success on stage or screen to give them a sense of self-worth. The problem is that when they achieve fame, they begin to wonder if people love them for who they really are, or simply for the fact that they are famous. This makes it challenging for famous people to form secure relationships. Partly as a result of that, they end up socialising with other celebrities who have similar emotional problems, and this makes their situation worse.

C Franz
To be honest, the idea of being on a stage and having everyone focus on you is quite appealing to me, but I know that there’s no way I’d enjoy the reality of being famous. When everyone knows who you are, it’s as if you’re not human anymore. Fame means endless requests for pictures, autographs and stories for the tabloid press. Every mistake is exaggerated and nothing in your family life remains private. How could you not get fed up with that? I think that’s why some stars become arrogant or unhappy, and unable to act like normal people, especially if they become famous at a young age and have to grow up with the public watching their every move.

D Mahomet
There is nothing wrong with being famous if it’s because you are very skilled at something, whether you’ve written a bestseller, you’re a brilliant surgeon or a great entertainer. Fame based on earning the respect or admiration of your readers, patients or audience can inspire people. It also provides a link between people – common ground that helps us feel part of a community. However, when fame is used merely as self-promotion to gain money or more attention for its own sake, then it adds very little to the world.

E Johann
I try to avoid reading about so-called ‘stars’ – they’re just people like everyone else, and I really don’t care if they’re getting married, divorced or buying a new pet cat! On the whole, people who are famous seem to live in another world, where they are the only thing of importance. They are obsessed with their own lives, and the longer they stay in the headlines, the worse they get. One thing I do admire, though, is the ability they all share to recover time after time, when the media turns against them or their latest project has failed.

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