1. The spacecraft ___________ into space and then spent three days getting to the Moon.
a. hurled b. threw c. blasted d. orbited
2. New drugs need to be tested for years to see if there are any ___________ effects which could be harmful.
a. long-range b. long-term c. long-gone d. long-felt
3. The opposition protests against the government now threaten to get out of ___________ and the
security forces are likely to make arrests around the country today.
a. reach b. kilter c. hand d. the ordinary
4. The police, ___________ convinced of the suspect's guilt, began to follow him covertly 24 hours a day.
a. greatly b. enough c. powerfully d. utterly
5. The room fell silent when Johnson, unaware of the couple's history, ___________ the subject of divorce.
a. brought about b. brought in c. brought up d. brought off
6. I suppose I always felt a certain amount of jealousy towards Elvin who was always such a well ___________ young man.
a. thought about b. thought up c. thought through d. thought of
7. I can't stand opera. I can't even ___________ myself to listen to five minutes of it on a CD.
a. take b. give c. make d. bring
8. Don't worry about those two rowing. They have a long history ___________ back to when they were
at college together. I think they even enjoy arguing.
a. stretching b. lying c. returning d. coming
1. The sales department was ___________ with complaints after the faulty washing machine went on sale nationwide.
a. attacked b. flooded c. wetted d. sieged
2. The police were called out in the early hours of the morning when there was a ___________ involving a few teenagers.
a. disturbance b. riot c. outcry d. campaign
3. Morale at the football club began to decline as the ___________ departure of the coach approached.
a. future b. predictable c. nearby d. forthcoming
4. The coach has ___________ fit to move to another club after some disputes over player contracts.
a. seen b. looked c. seemed d. chosen
5. ___________ on by my husband, I applied for the job I had always dreamt of having.
a. begged b. obliged c. urged d. pleaded
6. As you are no doubt ___________ aware, your lies have shown you to be an untrustworthy employee
and we will have to let you go.
a. steadily b. painfully c. apparently d. sharply
7. The train finally arrived, covered in snow after two further hours. ___________ to say, when I arrived
at the restaurant, there was no sign of Maggie at all.
a. silly b. useless c. wasteful d. needless
8. Did you ever realise you have an uncanny ___________ of coming down to the kitchen just as I am
about to serve dinner? Very strange!
a. habit b. knack c. trick d. routine
1. You seem a strong candidate Mr. Williams but you don't quite ___________ our requirements for this post.
a. meet b. reach c. achieve d. gain
2. ___________ by both financial and emotional problems, the father decided he had had enough and
slipped away from the house quietly at dawn.
a. pressured b. beset c. filled d. drowned
3. I felt let down by a very unsupportive boardroom, ___________ by the very chairman himself, Wilson
Gray. I had no choice but to resign.
a. at most b. not least c. notwithstanding d. henceforth
4. If they ask you about me, don't ___________ that you know where I am, OK?
a. let on b. give in c. give on d. let in
5. Just remember that August in Australia is ___________ with a North American December, though it doesn't snow!
a. on level b. on a par c. evens d. compared
6. A(n) ___________ diamond such as this would fetch over one hundred thousand if put up for auction.
a. error free b. consistent c. flawless d. persistent
7. Only when explorers finally penetrated the ___________ forests of Central and South America were
these ruins revealed to the world at last.
a. solid b. heavy c. tangled d. dense
8. The average Siberian Stoat family group ___________ one male, two or three females and the young of all of the females.
a. consists b. constituting c. comprises d. makes up
1. The difference between roads and rivers is not very ___________ defined on this map. That could be a problem.
a. solidly b. markedly c. distinctly d. clearly
2. Out upon the cloud covered hills, we only caught the occasional glimpse of the town lights
___________ far below in the valley.
a. sparkling b. glimmering c. flashing d. beaming
3. After a month, I will ___________ the ropes and won't keep bothering you for help.
a. show b. learn c. get d. finish
4. Here's something that will give you ___________ for thought. Every year, there are 90 million more
people on the Earth than the year before!
a. stop b. break c. reason d. pause
5. And also among our guests tonight, we are fortunate enough to have the ___________ environmentalist Kathy Wong.
a. notorious b. eminent c. prestigious d. monumental
6. When I ___________ my fingers, I want you to stop playing but continue to tap your feet to the rhythm.
a. break b. crack c. click d. bang
7. ___________ retrospect, we should have noticed how unhappy Carla had become in her marriage. I partly blame myself. a. in b. with c. at d. under
8. Haiti is by far and ___________ the most beautiful place I have ever been to.
a. above b. over c. along d. away
1. Do you realise I have now written over a hundred letters of application in ___________ of a new job. I should become a secretary!
a. hunt b. quest c. search d. seek
2. I am afraid to inform the cabinet that there is a traitor in our ___________. We have begun an
investigation to find out who the culprit is.
a. midst b. crew c. middle d. centre
3. Why are you ___________ at me in that suspicious way? I didn't do anything!
a. staring b. peering c. gazing d. glancing
4. The young rookie scored over 20 goals in his first year, taking the whole league by ___________.
a. force b. example c. storm d. assault
5. I hope you won't feel too ___________ if I turn up at the last minute. The hotel was fully booked!
a. put in b. put out c. put up d. put away
6. Hubert ___________ remembered locking the door and couldn't understand how it was now standing wide open.
a. distinctly b. sharply c. totally d. utterly
7. A lesser know symptom of this condition is that you will suddenly have panic attacks and
___________ cold sweats with little or no warning.
a. break into b. come across c. give off d. switch on
8. If you are looking for Sheila, she is over in the corner of the library with her head ___________ in her books.
a. covered b. entombed c. buried d. drowned
1. Your laziness has ___________ in these terrible exam results. You only have yourself to blame.
a. led b. caused c. contributed d. resulted
2. I have tried every product on the market and still I can't rid these curtains of the ___________ of cigarette smoke.
a. fumes b. fragrance c. stench d. aroma
3. Granddad would spend hours talking to us youngsters around the dinner table ___________ about his
happy younger days back east on the farm.
a. recalling b. reminiscing c. reminding d. memorising
4. Many celebrities complain about the media attention but I think many of them thrive on being in the ___________.
a. torch-light b. headlight c. floodlight d. limelight
5. James Dean became something of a(n) ___________ for rebellious teenagers across America in the 1950s.
a. model b. figure c. icon d. status symbol
6. The winning team were roundly criticised by the local media for the way in which they had
___________ over the losing team. It was considered very unsporting.
a. gloated b. relished c. showed up d. dominated
7. Mike spent three days at the driving centre before giving up. He just couldn't ___________ to grips
with driving such a large truck.
a. take b. get c. reach d. beat
8. I retired three years ago and didn't know what to do with myself. Getting this dog has given me a new ___________ of life.
a. burst b. loan c. lease d. extension
1. Local police have promised to ___________ on the rampant drug scene that is thought to have
contributed to the death of two teenagers last week.
a. crack down b. weigh down c. put down d. come down
2. We used to spend hours on this beach, ___________ among the rocks and the sand dunes. Seems like centuries ago!
a. scuttling b. limping c. clambering d. hopping
3. My responsibility is to keep a ___________ rein on company expenses and try to see us in the black
for the next financial year. I know it won't be easy!
a. shorter b. looser c. longer d. tighter
4. Apparently, the sailor spent three days on the beach before anyone found him and sent for help. It
doesn't surprise me: that is a very deserted ___________ of coastline.
a. zone b. stretch c. corridor d. swathe
5. Young children are ___________ often willing to behave stupidly to impress their friends.
a. all so b. all very c. all too d. all but
6. The quickest way to the castle is to ___________ for that large hill and cross the river on the new
bridge. Then you can't miss it. a. go b. reach c. set d. make
7. There's no ___________ asking me to pay for those shoes. You ruined them, you pay for them!
a. use b. motive c. point d. need
8. The vagrant came out of the shop, ___________ for about 10 paces before falling against a car.
a. stammered b. tripped c. Staggered d. skidded
1. Sir, are you aware that local fire restrictions ___________ the number of people allowed in a club this size to 200? a. top b. cap c. stop d. limit
2. If Harold never won any cups, why is his name ___________ onto this golfing trophy?
a. daubed b. scribbled c. carved d. etched
3. The extensive winds that have been ___________ Florida will move away as the weekend draws to a close.
a. battering b. punching c. cracking d. thumping
4. Despite the scandal, the leader emerged with his reputation ___________.
a. untarnished b. unpolluted c. unimpaired d. unfettered
5. Three of the escapees have now been recaptured but police spokesmen have said they are concerned
that, of the fourth prisoner, ___________ information is known that could help the authorities put him back behind bars.
a. scant b. rare c. slight d. a little
6. If the manager says anything about the missed deadline, just ___________ your tongue, say nothing and we can discuss it later.
a. eat b. swallow c. bite d. suck
7. I didn't realise you were so ___________ interested in fishing.
a. vividly b. keenly c. extensively d. patently
8. The most important parts of your job may seem difficult now but they will become second
___________ to you within a couple of weeks.
a. instinct b. thought c. nature d. mind
1. The laws are in place to protect the monuments but the guards often turn a blind ___________ to what people get up to here.
a. look b. glance c. watch d. eye
2. As soon as the bomb was discovered by one of the cleaning staff, the police had the area
___________ off and no-one was allowed within two blocks of the cafe.
a. fenced b. cordoned c. walled d. isolated
3. We had a great birthday dinner but I didn't expect it to ___________ us back quite so much. That place is expensive! a. get b. hit c. cost d. set
4. Funding to the sales department should be increased but not at the ___________ of other sections of the company.
a. expense b. detriment c. disadvantage d. punishment
5. On the last day of the festival, we have a choice between a battle re-enactment and a poetry ___________ near the abbey.
a. show b. performance c. recital d. telling
6. "Who is that strange woman ___________ you from across the room? She looks quite aggressive."
a. gazing b. staring c. eyeing d. peering
7. ___________ how nicely she asks me, I don't see why I should help her after her earlier attitude.
a. No matter b. No doubt c. No need d. No importance
8. Ladies and gentlemen, we may soon have to change ___________ slightly to avoid a dangerous
looking thunderstorm up ahead. We will keep you informed at all times.
a. track b. tack c. path d. course
The Middle of Things by J. S. Fletcher
1. What problem did Viner have with reading to his aunt? a) he didn't like the books b) he didn't like the location
c) he didn't like her drinking port
d) he didn't like the time he had to read
2. What most drove Miss Penkridge's taste in novels? a) what Viner had available b) what she had read before
c) what was available in the library of the large house
d) what kept her awake at night
3. What is closest in meaning to "burning" in paragraph 2? a) action-filled b) confusing c) unsolved d) passionate
4. What was Miss Penkridge's feelings towards the author of the most recent book that Viner read for her?
a) she wanted to read more of his work b) she felt deceived by him
c) she already knew his books well
d) she was exhausted by his plot twists
5. What is Viner's fundamental objection to the fiction that his aunt likes? a) it's all the same
b) the endings are too exaggerated
c) it is too dissimilar to Miss Penkridge's life d) it's unrealistic
6. What sense does the narrator want to give with the comments about Viner's library and his reading?
a) he hasn't read enough cheap fiction b) his life is very dull
c) his life is different from his aunt's d) he has a sheltered life
On that particular November evening, Viner, a young gentleman of means and leisure, who lived in a
comfortable old house in Markendale Square, Bayswater, in company with his maiden aunt Miss Bethia
Penkridge, had spent his after-dinner hours in a fashion which had become a habit. Miss Penkridge, a
model housekeeper and an essentially worthy woman, whose whole day was given to supervising
somebody or something, had an insatiable appetite for fiction, and loved nothing so much as that her
nephew should read a novel to her after the two glasses of port which she allowed herself every night
had been thoughtfully consumed and he and she had adjourned from the dining-room to the hearthrug
in the library. Her tastes, however, in Viner's opinion were somewhat, if not decidedly, limited.
Brought up in her youth on Miss Braddon, Wilkie Collins and Mrs. Henry Wood, Miss Penkridge had
become a confirmed slave to the sensational. She had no taste for the psychological, and nothing but
scorn for the erotic. What she loved was a story which began with crime and ended with a detection �
a story which kept you wondering who did it, how it was done, and when the doing was going to be laid
bare to the light of day. Nothing pleased her better than to go to bed with a brain titivated with the
mysteries of the last three chapters; nothing gave her such infinite delight as to find, when the final
pages were turned, that all her own theories were wrong, and that the real criminal was somebody
quite other than the person she had fancied. For a novelist who was so little master of his trade as to let
you see when and how things were going, Miss Penkridge had little but good-natured pity; for one who
led you by all sorts of devious tracks to a startling and surprising sensation she cherished a whole-souled
love; but for the creator of a plot who could keep his secret burning to his last few sentences she felt the
deepest thing that she could give to any human being�respect. Such a master was entered
permanently on her mental library list.
At precisely ten o'clock that evening Viner read the last page of a novel which had proved to be exactly
suited to his aunt's tastes. A dead silence fell on the room, broken only by the crackling of the logs in the
grate. Miss Penkridge dropped her knitting on her silk-gowned knees and stared at the leaping flames;
her nephew, with an odd glance at her, rose from his easy-chair, picked up a pipe and began to fill it
from a tobacco-jar on the mantelpiece. The clock had ticked several times before Miss Penkridge spoke.
"Well!" she said, with the accompanying sigh which denotes complete content. "So he did it! Now, I
should never have thought it! The last person of the whole lot! Clever, very clever! Richard, you'll get all
the books that that man has written!"
Viner lighted his pipe, thrust his hands in the pockets of his trousers and leaned back against the mantelpiece.
"My dear aunt!" he said half-teasingly, half-seriously. "You're worse than a drug-taker. Whatever makes
a highly-respectable, shrewd old lady like you cherish such an insensate fancy for this sort of stuff?"
"Stuff?" demanded Miss Penkridge, who had resumed her knitting. "Pooh! It's not stuff, it's life! Real life, in the form of fiction!"
Viner shook his head, pityingly. He never read fiction for his own amusement; his tastes in reading lay
elsewhere, in solid directions. Moreover, in those directions he was a good deal of a student, and he
knew more of his own library than of the world outside it. So he shook his head again.
"Life!" he said. "You don't mean to say that you think those things" he pointed a half-scornful finger to a
pile of novels which had come in from Mudie's that day, "really represent life?"
"What else?" demanded Miss Penkridge.
"Oh, I don't know," replied Viner vaguely. "Fancy, I suppose, and imagination, and all that sort of thing,
invention, you know, and so on. But, life! Do you really think such things happen in real life, as those we've been reading about?"
"I don't think anything about it," retorted Miss Penkridge sturdily. "I'm sure of it. I never had a novel yet,
nor heard one read to me, that was half as strong as it might have been!"
"Queer thing, one never hears or sees of these things, then!" exclaimed Viner. "I never have! and I've
been on this planet thirty years."
"That sort of thing hasn't come your way, Richard," remarked Miss Penkridge sententiously. "And you
don't read the popular Sunday newspapers. I do! They're full of crime of all sorts. So's the world. And as
to mysteries, well, I've known of two or three in my time that were much more extraordinary than any
I've ever read of in novels. I should think so!"