Reading

Read the texts and match the choices (A-H) to (1-5) There are three choices you don't need.

1

Britney Spears' wax figure will be put

at Madam Tussaud's museum in central London.

The wax figure will be modeled from one of the singer's videos in which she dances around a pole.

2

Tim Duncan carried the San Antonio Spurs to their second league

title with 88-77 victory over the New Jersey Nets in Game 6 of the NBA Final Sunday night.

With 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and eight blocked shorts, he easily captured his second final MVP prize.

3

Stocks ended lower on Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell

79.43 points, or 0.86 per cent, to

9, 117.12 on Friday.

The broader Standard &poor's 500 Index dropped 9,90 points, or 0.99 per cent, to 988.61.

4

Heavy rains in northern Bangladesh made nearly 150,000 people

stranded in their flooded homes,

officials said on Sunday.

No deaths were reported.

5

Germany opened the annual meeting

of the deeply divided

International Whaling Commision (IWC) on Monday.

It advised to adopt a motion, ecology groups say which will help preserve whales and dolphins for future generations.

1 - ?

2

Tim Duncan carried the San Antonio Spurs to their second league

title with 88-77 victory over the New Jersey Nets in Game 6 of the NBA Final Sunday night.

With 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and eight blocked shorts, he easily captured his second final MVP prize.

3

Stocks ended lower on Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell

79.43 points, or 0.86 per cent, to

9, 117.12 on Friday.

The broader Standard &poor's 500 Index dropped 9,90 points, or 0.99 per cent, to 988.61.

4

Heavy rains in northern Bangladesh made nearly 150,000 people

stranded in their flooded homes,

officials said on Sunday.

No deaths were reported.

5

Germany opened the annual meeting

of the deeply divided

International Whaling Commision (IWC) on Monday.

It advised to adopt a motion, ecology groups say which will help preserve whales and dolphins for future generations.

2 - ?

3

Stocks ended lower on Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell

79.43 points, or 0.86 per cent, to

9, 117.12 on Friday.

The broader Standard &poor's 500 Index dropped 9,90 points, or 0.99 per cent, to 988.61.

4

Heavy rains in northern Bangladesh made nearly 150,000 people

stranded in their flooded homes,

officials said on Sunday.

No deaths were reported.

5

Germany opened the annual meeting

of the deeply divided

International Whaling Commision (IWC) on Monday.

It advised to adopt a motion, ecology groups say which will help preserve whales and dolphins for future generations.

3 - ?

4

Heavy rains in northern Bangladesh made nearly 150,000 people

stranded in their flooded homes, officials said on Sunday.

No deaths were reported.

5

Germany opened the annual meeting

of the deeply divided

International Whaling Commision (IWC) on Monday.

It advised to adopt a motion, ecology groups say which will help preserve whales and dolphins for future generations.

4 - ?

5

Germany opened the annual meeting

of the deeply divided International Whaling Commision (IWC) on Monday.

It advised to adopt a motion, ecology groups say which will help preserve whales and dolphins for future generations.

5 - ?

Read the text below. For questions (6-10) choose the correct answer (А, В, C or D).

Why I chose to Volunteer Abroad

Andrew Marshall

Volunteering isn’t so expensive that it’s only an option for the well off. I spent 10 weeks volunteering in Arizona with America Conservation Experience, helping to preserve America’s natural beauty.

The trip was arranged through Bunac, a work and volunteer organisation. Altogether, it cost me around £1,000 - a sum which I covered mostly by working in my student bar.

Despite the self-indulgent image associated with overseas volunteer projects, the work can be hard going. I spent my time abroad maintaining trails, building fences and implementing re-vegetation projects in some of the national parks and national monuments of America.

Summer temperatures in Arizona stay well above 35C, not ideal if you’re carrying 50kg of concrete for 10 hours at a time. And then there’s the wildlife to deal with. One afternoon nap took a less subdued turn when 1 realised that a rattlesnake was resting only 3 metres from me. The experience, needless to say, improved my strength of character - and reduced my fear of the English household spider.

Most people volunteer because they want to give something back to the world. But in reality, you benefit just as much as the local communities and ecosystems you’re helping.

Spending 10 weeks in America’s most beautiful national parks and forests was an unforgettable experience. 1 gained a far deeper understanding of the local environment than the average tourist, meeting ex-national park rangers, who had a unique knowledge of the area’s history and ecosystem.

The most challenging aspects of working abroad are also the most beneficial. Being placed in an unfamiliar environment forces you to use your initiative and develop self-confidence - surviving 10 days of camping in the wild is something that three years of university could never provide. When I look back on the work I completed, it makes writing a dissertation and academic deadlines seem a lot more manageable.

But best of all, my 10 weeks were spent volunteering with young people from a mix of cultures and backgrounds - from Belgians to South Koreans. When I left Arizona, I returned home having made friends with students from across the world.

6. Where did the author get the money for his trip?

7. According to the text, what was part of Andrew’s duties working in Arizona?

8. Andrew had to face all of the following EXCEPT    

9.  What does the author mean by saying “surviving 10 days of camping in the wild is something that three years of university could never provide” (paragraph 7)?

10. What did Andrew like most of all about his trip?

A Katy
People are always asking me what I’m going to do in the future and until now I haven’t really known how to reply. It’s difficult to explain that I think my future lies in writing. When I first mentioned it to my parents, they didn’t laugh but they acted as though it was something I would grow out of and they were confident that I would get a ‘proper job’ eventually. But I’ve always been serious about being a writer. I love the English language and I’ve been a keen reader since the age of five. I’ve done a lot of short stories and some have been printed in magazines. What I’d really like is to write thrillers. I know that sounds crazy and many people don’t think thrillers are real books at all. But I love a good puzzle, so that’s what I say now. ‘I’m going to be a thriller writer.’ Then I wait to see the expression on people’s faces!

B Giles
My dad and my uncle were both journalists and wrote for Sunday newspapers. We always had people in the house who were connected with newspapers and news and I grew up with their conversations in the background. It must have rubbed off on me because I desperately want to follow in Dad’s footsteps and become a journalist, too. I don’t think I’d like to do exactly the same as he did – he was a political journalist – because I’m not that serious about politics, but I’d like to travel and maybe write reports from different places around the world. I can see myself writing about environmental problems in Australia or North Africa or somewhere like that.

C Terry
When you’re a kid, you have no real idea of what you’re going to do in the future. You might have a dream of being a famous footballer or actress or even a princess (that was my younger sister’s strong belief!). But most people don’t really know the sort of person they’re going to be, so deciding on a future career is tricky. It was only last summer that I suddenly knew what I wanted to do and that was to become a writer. I’ve always done drama in my free time and I suddenly realised that I was pretty good at writing dialogue. So next term I’m going to start a screen writing course. With luck, one day I’ll be writing the soaps and dramas you watch on TV!

D Sarah
We had a creative writing course at my secondary school last year and I went on it because I’ve liked writing for a long time. I always wrote diaries when I was younger and I also used to write short, funny stories for the other kids in my class to read at primary school. However, it soon became quite clear that I wasn’t going to be the next great English novelist! I’m just not patient enough and I don’t think I’ve got the skill to write complex books. But I am clever with words, so what I’d like to do is to go into the advertising world, writing adverts. What you need in that job is to write things that are catchy but short and funny. I think it’s the right profession for me because there will be lots of variety and I’ll be working in a busy, fast-moving world. I’m glad I went on the creative writing course though, because I learned that there are all sorts of jobs which involve writing, which is why I’ve made this decision. 

11 ... believes his/her background predisposed him/her towards a particular profession? 

12 ... has chosen a writing career because of another pastime?

13 ... has already had some success with his/her writing? 

14 ... wants a job working in a high-pressure environment? 

15 ... says that family members questioned the seriousness of his/her intentions? 

16 ... enjoys writing things that other people find humorous