Milner College

Certificate in Advanced English Pre-test

December 9, 2002

Milner International College of English

379 Hay Street
Perth WA 6000
Australia

Tel:
Fax:

+ 61 8 9325 5444
+ 61 8 9221 2392

C
A
E
Pre-course test
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.

In your own interests please do not use a dictionary or reference books or ask for any help with this test.

2.

Maximum time allowed for this test is 1 hours.

3.

DO NOT write on the question sheet. ALL answers must be hand written on the answer sheet only.

4.

Please fax your completed answer sheet at least 4 weeks before the start of the Cambridge course directly to
fax: 61-08-9221 2392 or by email to general@milner.wa.edu.au .

STUDENTS WHO DO NOT SEND A COMPLETED PRE-TEST AT LEAST 4

WEEKS BEFORE THE START OF THE CAMBRIDGE COURSE CANNOT
BE GUARANTEED A PLACE

379 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000

www.milner.wa.edu.au

1995 by Milner International College of English

Ph: +61 8 9325 5444
Fax: +61 8 9221 2392
E-mail: milner@wantree.com.au

Page 1

Milner College

Certificate in Advanced English Pre-test

December 9, 2002

CAMBRIDGE ADVANCED CERTIFICATE PRE-COURSE TEST

All answers must be completed on the separate answer sheet.
DO NOT WRITE ON THESE PAGES
SECTION A 1
For questions 2 - 6, you must choose which of the paragraphs A - G on page 3 match the numbered
gaps in the extract from an essay published in a nature magazine. There is one extra paragraph, which
does not belong in any of the gaps.

RARITY
As we threaded our way down and down, one of our party stopped and knelt. There, hanging
downwards on a dead branch on the forest floor, was what looked like a large, dried and blackened
flower, two petals partially open. I was about to move on when the petals quivered weakly and a
bright, unwinking eye gazed at me from the flower's base.
1.

I gently cupped my hand around the swift and lifted it, wet and shivering minutely. Obviously it had
been knocked out of the sky by the recent storm. Falling drenched and helpless into the forest, the
bird had tried to regain its habitat by climbing the branch - a brave but hopeless attempt.
2.

As I stepped out from the gloom into the bright grassland, the swift gave a tiny start. It twisted its head
and looked up. The warmth from my hand had partially dried its feathers, and its trembling changed to
a more determined fluttering. We examined its wings. They flexed freely. There seemed to be no
damage. I photographed it.
3.

But this now posed a dilemma. The addition of a new species to the Zambian list must be supported
by a specimen. A specimen - dead and stretched out - that can be mulled over by the experts. A
specimen, stuffed, smelling of mothballs, beak tied closed with a neat knot of cotton, eyes a blank,
white cotton-wool stare.
4.

It had now become 'my' swift. My companions mentally backed off from the awkward decision this
discovery required. I was the ornithologist of the party; the decision was mine. If I killed the bird, sent
the specimen to a museum and published the data then my name would be the one inscribed for
posterity: "...first recorded from Zambia by A J Scott in 1979".
5.

I began to squeeze and as I did so probably it was the increased pressure, but it could have been
something else - the swift turned its head and looked at me with a calm, bright-eyed gaze.
6.

I opened my hand and raised the bird towards its companions, the clouds and the sky.

379 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000

www.milner.wa.edu.au

1995 by Milner International College of English

Ph: +61 8 9325 5444
Fax: +61 8 9221 2392
E-mail: milner@wantree.com.au

Page 2

Milner College

Certificate in Advanced English Pre-test

December 9, 2002

REMEMBER TO WRITE YOUR ANSWERS ON THE ANSWER SHEET. DO NOT WRITE HERE.

A
A small group of us stood above Chowo, one of the largest of the forest patches. The
treetops stretched away below like a verdant carpet. A retreating thunderhead grumbled and
muttered to itself as it trailed a dark veil of rain over the distant moors. Newly fallen raindrops
winked and sparkled on every leaf and blade.

B
Abruptly the image reversed itself, as illusions do, and it became a bird... one of the swifts incongruous, the most aerial of all birds, stranded deep in the forest. It was as strange as
finding a whale. Flow had it reached this nadir?

C
Then we took out the identification books "... pale throat ... deeply forked tail ... wing length
134 millimetres". Slow realisation dawned this was a Scarce Swift, Schoutedenapus
myoptilus, a very rare species, a bird never seen in Zambia before - an important discovery!

D
My finger and thumb closed about its neck. I hesitated. This was a rare bird. It was a Scarce
Swift, uncommon ... maybe endangered. Could I not spare its life? Would those who decided
these things accept the photographs as sufficient evidence? Had I got the exposure right?
Maybe not. In any event, with a preserved specimen there could be no argument.

E
In that instant the argument between the scientist and the conservationist in me was decided.

F
My swift's black and brilliant eye was fixed on the sky, gazing intently at its companions who
still screamed around the cloud bases. My swift fluttered very strongly now, rejuvenated by
the light and the warmth and space. It trembled, not with the hopeless cold of the forest, but
with an electric vitality.

G
Was it injured? Could it fly? What species was it? These questions could only be answered
out of the trees. We retraced our steps, up towards the sky and the clouds and the light. In
my hand the swift continued to tremble gently, its eyes closed in despair. Hell for a swift is
the dark forest depths.

379 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000

www.milner.wa.edu.au

1995 by Milner International College of English

Ph: +61 8 9325 5444
Fax: +61 8 9221 2392
E-mail: milner@wantree.com.au

Page 3

Milner College

Certificate in Advanced English Pre-test

December 9, 2002

SECTION A2
For questions 7-11.
Read this extract from a book. The text is followed by a number of questions or unfinished statements
about the text. You must choose the answer which you think fits best. On your answer sheet, indicate
the letter A, B, C or D against the number of each question. Give one answer only to each question.

USE BOTH YOUR HEADS!

In most people the left side of the brain deals with such things as logic, language, reasoning,
number, linearity and analysis, the so-called 'academic' activities. While the left side is
engaged in these activities, the right side is in the 'alpha wave' or resting state. The right side
of the brain deals with rhythm, music, images and imagination, colour, parallel processing,
day-dreaming, face recognition, and pattern or map recognition.
Researches showed that when people were encouraged to develop a mental area they had
previously considered weak, this development, rather than detracting from other areas,
seemed to produce an effect in which _all areas of mental performance improved.
At first glance history seemed to deny this finding, for most of the 'great brains' appeared
very lopsided in mental terms: Einstein and other scientists seemed to be mostly 'left-brain'
dominant, while Picasso, Czanne and other artists and musicians appeared to be 'rightbrain' dominant.
A more thorough investigation, however, unearthed some fascinating facts: Einstein failed
mathematics at school, but numbered among his other activities violin playing, art, sailing,
and imagination games.
To his imagination games Einstein gave credit for many of his more significant scientific
insights. While day-dreaming on a hill on a summer day, he imagined riding sunbeams to the
far extremities of the universe, and upon finding himself returned, 'illogically', to the surface of
the sun, he realised that the universe must indeed be curved, and that his previous 'logical'
training was incomplete. The numbers, formulas, equations and words he wrapped around
this new image gave us the theory of relativity - a left and right brain synthesis.
Similarly the great artists turned out to be 'both-brained'. Rather than notebooks filled with
stories of drunken parties, and paint slapped on haphazardly to produce masterpieces,
entries similar to the following were found:
'Up at 6 am. Spent seventeenth day on painting six of the latest series. Mixed four parts
orange with two parts yellow to produce colour combination which I placed in upper left-hand
corner of canvas, to act in visual opposition to spiral structures in lower right-hand corner,
producing desired balance in eye of the perceiver.
A telling example of just how an artist works.

379 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000

www.milner.wa.edu.au

1995 by Milner International College of English

Ph: +61 8 9325 5444
Fax: +61 8 9221 2392
E-mail: milner@wantree.com.au

Page 4

Milner College

Certificate in Advanced English Pre-test

December 9, 2002

REMEMBER: ANSWERS ON THE ANSWER SHEET. DO NOT WRITE ON THIS PAGE

With which type of activity is the right side of the brain concerned?
A linguistic
B social
C visual
D mathematical

At school, Einstein seems to have been.

A left-brain dominant.
B very lopsided in mental terms.
C very well-balanced in mental terms.
D right-brain dominant.

What does a careful study of history show?

A Great scientists have a dominant left side of the brain.
B Great artists have one side of the brain dominant.
C Some famous scientists reveal strong right-brain characteristics.
D There is no evidence for the left-right brain distinction.

10

According to the writer, Einstein's theory of relativity was the result of

A a dream.
B reason and imagination combined.
C further logical training.
D pure imagination.

11

The purpose of the extract from an artist's notebook is to show that

A it is important to plan a painting in detail.
B a lot of left-brain activity goes into a work of art
C artists are dominantly right-brained.
D artists are dominantly left-brained.

379 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000

www.milner.wa.edu.au

1995 by Milner International College of English

Ph: +61 8 9325 5444
Fax: +61 8 9221 2392
E-mail: milner@wantree.com.au

Page 5

Milner College

Certificate in Advanced English Pre-test

December 9, 2002

SECTION B 1
For questions 1- 15 Read the article below and then decide which word best fits each space.
Put the letter you choose for each question in the correct box on your answer sheet. The
exercise begins with an example.

THE BEST OF BOTH WORKING WORLDS

More and more companies are now becoming anxious about losing qualified female staff
when they decide to have children. With employers desperately looking for ways of bringing
skilled women back into the (0) B market, job-sharing has finally come into its (1)... . For
many years it spread through public sector organisations - both those committed to equal
opportunities and those concerned by the problem of being unable to keep (2)... female staff
once they decided to start a (3)... . As skill shortages are aggravated by (4) ... numbers of
school leavers, commercial employers are now following suit.
Under a job-sharing scheme two people divide the responsibilities of a (5)... full-time job and
(6)... the salary between them. Many schemes divide the (7)... week into two periods of two
and a half days but another popular way of dividing time (8)... sharers working alternate
weeks.
The recent popularity of job-sharing is (9)... in a survey of 37 schemes published this week.
The (10)... of organisations covered by the survey shows the (11)... to which job-sharing has
spread. It (12)... banks, building societies, media employers and insurance companies
among many others. Many schemes are linked to an equal opportunities policy. Other
organisations simply see job-sharing as a way of keeping high-fliers on their career (13)...
They can return from maternity (14)... at the same level and at the same status while having
the (15)... of being able to work reduced hours.

0
1.
2.
3.
4.

REMEMBER TO MARK YOUR ANSWERS ON THE ANSWER SHEET.

A work
B labour
C professional D occupation
A own
B self
C importance
D time
A key
B head
C big
D upper
A business
B family
C home
D career
A increasing B enlarging
C declining
D reducing

5.
6.
7.
8.

A sole
A break
A job
A involves

B single
B chop
B working
B consists

9.

A lit

B illuminated C floodlit

D highlighted

10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

A degree
A amount
A includes
A path
A break
A addition

B range
B length
B contains
B road
B leave
B right

D quantity
D depth
D takes
D plan
D interval
D luck

379 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000

www.milner.wa.edu.au

C unique
C cut
C labouring
C depends

C size
C extent
C holds
C way
C holiday
C advantage

D singular
D split
D employment
D results

1995 by Milner International College of English

Ph: +61 8 9325 5444
Fax: +61 8 9221 2392
E-mail: milner@wantree.com.au

Page 6

Milner College

Certificate in Advanced English Pre-test

December 9, 2002

SECTION B 2
For questions 16-29. Complete the following article by writing the missing words on the answer sheet.
The exercise begins with an example (0)... . Use only one word in each space.

A LABORATORY ACCIDENT THAT HAS LEFT ITS MARK ON THE WORLD

Sticky little pieces of paper, coloured yellow, began to appear in offices around the
world early in the 1980s. They were usually stuck to documents, and carried messages
scribbled from one executive to (0) .... . Their great advantage was that they (16)....
easily be peeled off after (17).... read, without leaving a mark.
(18).... the decade advanced, the sticky slips, called Post-it Notes, spread to colleges
and finally into homes. Students and researchers began using them to mark relevant
pages in books; and working wives and husbands left hurried messages (19) .... each
other stuck to the refrigerator.
Post-It Notes were created by an accidental discovery in a laboratory in St. Paul,
Minnesota, (20).... research was being conducted into superglue in 1968. An adhesive
was produced that was (21).... lacking in sticking power that the company 3M
dismissed it (22).... useless.
However, (23).... of its employees, a chemist called Art Fry, was a choir singer and
used the weak glue to make bookmarks for his song-book. They could be removed
(24).... they were no (25)... needed. without damaging the page.
Fry tried to persuade the firm that they were throwing away an idea that could (26)....
worldwide uses. But it was not (27) .... 1980 that 3M began selling pads of notepaper
(28).... a strip of adhesive along one edge for use in offices. As well as being
removable, they could be restuck (29)... else.

379 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000

www.milner.wa.edu.au

1995 by Milner International College of English

Ph: +61 8 9325 5444
Fax: +61 8 9221 2392
E-mail: milner@wantree.com.au

Page 7

Milner College

Certificate in Advanced English Pre-test

December 9, 2002

SECTION C
THE COMPOSITION
REFER AND WRITE ON THE BACK OF YOUR ANSWER SHEET.
Write an essay of 200-250 words on the following topic.

All secondary school students should learn a second language.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of education philosophy
DO NOT WRITE ON THIS PAGE

379 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000

www.milner.wa.edu.au

1995 by Milner International College of English

Ph: +61 8 9325 5444
Fax: +61 8 9221 2392
E-mail: milner@wantree.com.au

Page 8

Milner College

Certificate in Advanced English Pre-test

December 9, 2002

CAE ENTRANCE TEST ANSWER SHEET

Family Name:
_____________________
First Names:
_____________________
First Language:
_____________________
Sex:
_____________________
Cambridge Course/s completed previously: _____________________
Cambridge Exam/s passed:
______________________

PLEASE WRITE YOUR ANSWERS HERE:

SECTION A
1) _______________
4) _______________
7) _______________
10) _______________

2) _______________ 3) _______________
5) _______________ 6) _______________
8) _______________ 9) _______________
11) _______________

SECTION B
Reading 1
1) _____________________
2) _____________________
3) _____________________
4) _____________________
5) _____________________
6) _____________________
7) _____________________
8) _____________________
9) _____________________
10) _____________________
11) _____________________
12) _____________________
13) _____________________
14) _____________________
15) _____________________

379 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000

www.milner.wa.edu.au

Reading 2
16) _____________________
17) _____________________
18) _____________________
19) _____________________
20) _____________________
21) _____________________
22) _____________________
23) _____________________
24) _____________________
25) _____________________
26) _____________________
27) _____________________
28) _____________________
29) _____________________

1995 by Milner International College of English

Ph: +61 8 9325 5444
Fax: +61 8 9221 2392
E-mail: milner@wantree.com.au

Page 9

Milner College

Certificate in Advanced English Pre-test

December 9, 2002

CAE ENTRANCE TEST ANSWER SHEET

SECTION C
THE COMPOSITION
Write an essay of 200-250 words on the following topic.
All secondary school students should learn a second language.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of education philosophy.

_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
STUDENTS WHO DO NOT SEND A COMPLETED PRE-TEST AT LEAST 4
WEEKS BEFORE THE START OF THE CAMBRIDGE COURSE CANNOT BE
GUARANTEED A PLACE

This is all my own work. Nobody helped me. I did not use any book or electronic assistance when doing the
test.
______________________
_________________
______________
Name
Signature
Date

379 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000

www.milner.wa.edu.au

1995 by Milner International College of English

Ph: +61 8 9325 5444
Fax: +61 8 9221 2392
E-mail: milner@wantree.com.au

Page 10