You will hear people talking in eight different situations.

For questions 1-8, choose the best answer, (A,B or C)

1 You hear part of an interview with a pop singer. How does she feel about what happened?
A embarrassed by her mistake
B angry with her tour manager
C confused about what happened

2 You hear part of a radio programme for young people What advice does the speaker give?
A Try to discuss the matter with your friends
B Pay no attention to the people who laugh at you
C Encourage other people to be like you.

3 You hear a radio presenter talking about a book. What does the presenter say about the book?
A Some of the writers have already had their work published
B it contains work that was entered for a competition.
C it is very well organized.

4 You hear someone talking on the phone What is the speaker's purpose?
A to resolve a disagreement
B to make a threat
C to apologize for previous behaviour.

5 You hear someone talking to an assistant at a box office. What is the situation?
A The man has lost his tickets.
B The man was sent the wrong tickets.
C The man wants to return the tickets.

6 You hear someone talking about her personality What is the speaker doing? '
A admitting something
B explaining something
C promising something.

7 You hear two people talking. What is the relationship between them?
A They are members of the same club.
B They live in the same building.
C They are studying on the same course.

8 You hear a local radio presenter talking about a competition Which of the following is true of the
competition?
A The first part does not involve any cooking.
B The second part involves ten people cooking on their own.
C The final part takes place at a different restaurant.
You are going to read a newspaper article about careers advice. For questions 9-16, choose the answer (A, B
or C) which you think fits best according to the text. Questions 9-16 are worth 2 points each.

Finding the career that fits your personality

If you've finished your exams and have absolutely no idea what to do next, you're not alone, says
Sheridan Hughes, an occupational psychologist at Career Analysts, a career counselling service. At 18, it
can be very difficult to know what you want to do because you don't really know what you're interested
in. Careers guidance, adds Alexis Hallam, one of her colleagues, is generally poor and people can end up
in the wrong job and stay there for years because they're good at something without actually enjoying it.
To discover what people are good at and more fundamentally, what they will enjoy doing, Career Analysts
give their clients a battery of personality profile questionnaires and psychometric tests. An in-depth
interview follows, in which the test results are discussed and different career paths and options are
explored with the aid of an occupational psychologist. Career Analysts offers guidance to everyone, from
teenagers to retirees looking for a new focus in life. The service sounded just what I needed. Dividing my
time as I do between teaching and freelance journalism. I definitely need advice about consolidating my
career. Being too ancient for Career Analysts' student career option guidance and not, unfortunately, at the
executive level yet, l opted for the career management package. This is aimed at people who are
established in their jobs and who either want a change or some advice about planning the next step in their
careers.
Having filled in a multitude of personality indicator questionnaires at home, I then spent a rather gruelling
morning being aptitude-tested at Career Analysts' offices. The tests consisted of logical reasoning followed
by verbal, mechanical and spatial aptitude papers. Logical reasoning required me to pick out the next shape
in a sequence of triangles, squares and oblongs. I tried my best but knew that it was really a lost cause. I
fared rather better when it came to verbal aptitude - finding the odd one out in a series of words couldn't
be simpler. My complacency was short- lived, however, when l was confronted with images of levers and
pulleys for the mechanical aptitude papers my mind went blank. I had no idea what would happen to wheel
X when string Y was pulled.
At home, filling in questionnaires, I had been asked to give my instinctive reaction (not an over-considered
one) to statements like: 'It bothers me if people think I'm being odd or unconventional ', or 'l like to do my
planning alone without interruptions from others.' I was asked to agree or disagree on a scale of one to five
with 'l often take on impossible odds', or 'It is impossible for me to believe that chance or luck plays an
important role in my life.' I was told to indicate how important l consider status to be in a job, and how
important money and material benefits.
The questions attempt to construct a picture of the complete individual. Using aptitude tests alongside
personality profiling, occupational psychologists will, the theory goes, be able to guide a client towards a
rewarding, fulfilling career. Some questions are as straightforward as indicating whether or not you would
enjoy a particular job. Designing aircraft runways? Preparing legal documents? Playing a musical
instrument? Every career going makes an appearance and, as l was shown later, the responses tend to form
a coherent pattern.
Having completed my personality and aptitude tests, I sat down with Sheridan Hughes, who asked me
fairly searching personal and professional questions. What do my parents and siblings do for a living? Why
had I chosen to do an English degree? 'l need to get a picture of you as a person and how you've come to
be who you are,' she explained. 'What we do works because it's a mixture of science and counselling. We
use objective psychometric measures to discover our clients' natural strengths and abilities and then we
talk to them about what they want from life.
There were no real surprises in my own test results, nor in the interview that followed it. 'We're interested
in patterns,' Mrs Hughes explained, 'and the pattern for you is strongly verbal and communicative.' This
was putting it rather kindly. I had come out as average on the verbal skills test and below average in logic,
numerical, perceptual and mechanical reasoning. My spatial visualization was so bad it was almost off the
scale. A career in cartography, navigation, tiling or architecture would not be playing to your strengths,
she said delicately. Mrs Hughes encouraged me to expand the writing side of my career and gave me
straightforward, practical suggestions as to how I could go about it. 'Widen the scope of your articles,' she
said. 'You could develop an interest in medical and psychological fields.' These latter, she said, would sit
comfortably with an interest in human behaviour indicated on my personality-profiling questionnaires. She
suggested that I consider writing e-learning content for on-line courses, an avenue that would never have
occurred to me.

9 Which of the following is mentioned in the first paragraph?

A people underestimating their own abilities
B people accepting inappropriate advice
C people being unwilling to take risks
D people constantly changing their minds

10 What does the writer say about Career Analysts in the second paragraph?
A It is about to offer a service for people at executive level.
B The range of services it offers is unique.
C She was initially doubtful that it could be useful to her.
D Only one of its services was relevant to her.

11 What happened when the writer took the aptitude tests?

A She found two of the papers extremely difficult.
B She put in very little effort on any of them.
C She didn't understand what she was required to do on one of them.
D The papers were not what she had been expecting.

12 What does the writer say about the statements on the questionnaires?
A She thought about them for longer than she was supposed to.
B She found some of them rather strange.
C One of them focused on her attitude to risk.
D One of them concerned her current situation only.

13 The writer says that the idea behind the questionnaires is that
A people will find some of the questions quite hard to answer.
B the answers to them and the aptitude tests will provide all the necessary information.
C they will encourage people to have new ideas about possible careers.
D they will give a more accurate picture of people than the aptitude tests

14 Some of the questions Sheridan Hughes asked concerned the writer's

A opinions of the tests and questionnaires.
B relationships with family members.
C main regrets.
D progress through life.

15 The writer felt that during the interview, Mrs Hughes

A was keen not to upset her concerning her test results.
B seemed surprised at how badly she had done in the tests.
C was being honest about her strengths and weaknesses.
D to avoid talking about her test results.

16 The advice Mrs Hughes gave to the writer included the suggestion that she should
A think about taking a course on writing.
B concentrate only on writing and not on any other kind of work.
C increase the number of subjects she writes about.
D do something she had previously considered unappealing.
For questions 17 to 28, read the text below and decide which answer (A,B,C or D) best fits each gap. There is
an example at the beginning (o).

O A convince B guess C believe D value

Neighbours influence buying decisions

However objective we 0.. ourselves to be, most of us do not judge a product solely on its merits,
considering quality, value and style before making a decision. 17 , we are easily influenced by the
people around us. There is nothing 18 with this. It is probably a smarter way to make
decisions than 19.. on only our own opinions. But it does make life hard for companies. They
have 20.. understood that groups of friends and relatives tend to buy the same products, but
understanding the reasons has been tricky. Is it because they are so similar with 21. to how much
money they make and what television ads they watch that they independently 22at the same
decision? Or do they copy one another, perhaps 23 envy or perhaps because they have shared
information about the products? Research in Finland recently found overwhelming evidence that
neighbours have a big influence on buying decisions. When one of a person's ten nearest neighbours
bought a car, the 24 that that person would buy a car of the same brand during the next week and a
half 25 by 86 per cent. The researchers argued that it was not just a 26 of envy. Used cars
seemed to attract neighbours even more than new cars. This suggested that people were not trying to
27 up with their neighbours, they were keen to learn from them. Since used cars are less reliable, a
recommendation of one can 28 influence a buying decision.

17 A What's more B Instead C Unlike D In place

18 A wrong B silly C bad D daft

19 A basing B trusting C supposlng D relying

20 A ever B far C much D long

21 A connection B regard C relation D concern

22 A reach B come C arrive D get

23 A for B as to C out of D about

24 A chances B potential C possibilities D forecast

25 A boosted B rose C enlarged D lifted

26 A thing B point C matter D fact

27 A keep B stay C hold D follow

28 A fiercely B strongly C firmly D intensely

Grammar and Vocabulary

29 We.to Italy yet.

A didnt go B not have been C havent been

30 That boy is always..lies.

A speaking B saying C telling

31 They..in a concert.
A did B took part C took place

32 This film is boring, I think..go to bed.

A Im to going B Ill go C I might going

33 My mother..live in the mountains.

A used to B use to C would

34 The doctor said I.take these pills.

A must to B has to C have to

35 I think we need to sumwhat weve learnt.

A up B on C at

36 Life.easier if we didnt have to work so hard.

A is B would be C was

37 The sea is..it was yesterday.

A colder B coldest than C colder than

38 Isee my boss yesterday.

A must B had to C should

39 If I had a garden Igrow my own vegetables.

A might to B would C will

40 Youve brought the camera with you,.?

A havent you B did you C do you

41 When he was three, he.already talk.

A managed B was able C could

42 For the last two hoursin the garden, so Im tired.

A Im working B Ive been working C I work

43 The guide recommended..the museum.

A visiting B to visit C visit
Speaking

44 Welcome to the company, please.a seat.

A take B hold C have

45 Were going to focus.quality.

A to B on C by

46 Would you mind saying that again? .

A yes B of course C of course not

47 I always laugh at his stories. Hes so..

A fun B strange C funny

48 Come on! Spill the.. What did she say?

A peas B beans C tea

49 Thats impossible! You..joking!

A must to be B must be C must

50 .finish this for me, please?

A Could you B Shall you C Can you to

51 Were very different, but we.well.

A get off B get on with C get on

52 In my..,Tokyos the worlds greatest city.

A opinions B view C thinking
 Universit degli Studi di Milano Bicocca
Facolt Scienze delle Formazione
Corso di Laurea in Scienze della Formazione Primaria quinquennale
Esame di Lingue Inglese Level B2 14.03.2015

Answer Sheet

1 C 21 B 41 C

2 B 22 C 42 B

3 B 23 C 43 A

4 A 24 A 44 A

5 C 25 B 45 B

6 A 26 C 46 C

7 A 27 A 47 C

8 A 28 B 48 B

9 B 29 C 49 B

10 D 30 C 50 A

11 A 31 B 51 C

12 C 32 B 52 B

13 B 33 A

14 D 34 C

15 A 35 A

16 C 36 B

17 B 37 C

18 A 38 B

19 D 39 B

20 D 40 A
 Universit degli Studi di Milano Bicocca
Facolt Scienze delle Formazione
Corso di Laurea in Scienze della Formazione Primaria quinquennale
Esame di Lingue Inglese Level B2 14.03.2015

Cognome Nome Mat .email campus

1 21 41

2 22 42

3 23 43

4 24 44

5 25 45

6 26 46

7 27 47

8 28 48

9 29 49

10 30 50

11 31 51

12 32 52

13 33

14 34

15 35

16 36

17 37

18 38

19 39

20 40