2010_EnglishScreenTestSample

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__________________________________________________________________________BCA Academy (SAMPLE) Page 1 of 10

ENGLISH SCREENING TEST

2010

(SAMPLE)

Time Allowed: 1 hour 30 minutes

Name : _____________________________

Seat number : ______________

Identity number : _____________________

Instructions to candidates

1. Do not turn over this page until you are told to do so.

2. There are ten (10) printed pages in all.3. Answer all questions in each section.

4. Write all your answers neatly and legibly in the Answer Booklet provided.

5. Mobile phones are to be switched off and dictionaries are not allowed.

Section A Grammar (15 marks)

Section B Vocabulary (15marks)

Section C Cloze Passages (20 marks)

Section D Comprehension (30 marks)




Section A: Grammar (15 marks)

For each question from 1 to 15, four options are given. One of them is the correct answer.

Make your choice ( A, B, C or D) and write your answer in the answer booklet provided.

1. Mr Teng, who was _________ a police officer, is our new teacher.

(A) last time (C) one day

(B) that time (D) once

2. It is ________ crowded at peak hours that I may have to queue for a long time.

(A) since (C) hence

(B) so (D) as

3. “________ your friend up and ask him why he was late,” his father told him.

(A) Ringing (C) Rung

(B) Ring (D) Rang

4. Xinghong prefers listening to the radio. He doesn’t ________ watch television.

(A) rarely (C) unusually

(B) occasionally (D) usually

5. The children are learning to sew clothes all by ____________.

(A) ourselves (C) itself

(B) himself (D) themselves

6. We ______ to tell the teacher tomorrow.

(A) will go (C) would be going

(B) are going (D) go

7. We stroked the kitten gently _________ as not to hurt it.

(A) so (C) what

(B) in (D) to

8. I have not heard from him since I _____ to Singapore.

(A) have returned (C) was returning

(B) am returning (D) returned




9. They usually _____ to Australia for a holiday but this year, they went to New Zealand.

(A) went (C) gone

(B) go (D) have gone

10. Walk ____ this street until you reach the post office.

(A) on (C) along

(B) across (D) through

11. Jennifer is your sister-in-law, __________ she?

(A) is (C) isn’t

(B) was (D) wasn’t

12. Mrs Tan __________ to the radio every morning.

(A) listen (C) listens

(B) listening (D) listened

13. The grocery store __________ open every day, except Mondays.

(A) is (C) are

(B) was (D) were

14. Paul __________ have enough money to buy a new laptop, so he is buying a

second-hand one.

(A) do not (C) did not have

(B) has not (D) does not

15. Sharmaine and her brother __________ at the moment, please turn down the

volume of the radio.

(A) studying (C) is studying

(B) are studying (D) were studying




Section B: Vocabulary (15 marks)

For each question from 16 to 30, four options are given. One of them is the correct

answer. Make your choice ( A, B, C or D) and write your answer in the answer booklet

provided.

16. The customer is unhappy with the service provider. She wants to __________

a complaint against the company.

(A) lodge (C) send

(B) register (D) take

17. The man had __________ not guilty, claiming that he was framed.

(A) appealed (C) confessed

(B) pleaded (D) complained

18. Sulin is my sister’s daughter. She is my __________.

(A) cousin (C) sister

(B) nephew (D) niece

19. Sari is a seamstress. She __________ clothes for her customers.

(A) collects (C) does

(B) makes (D) washes

20. The members of the team overcame several __________ and finally

emerged as national champions.

(A) obstacles (C) hurdles

(B) disappointments (D) discouragements

21. Can you __________ when was the last time you saw him?

(A) remind (C) learn

(B) recognise (D) remember

22. The mall is __________ with people because of the festive season.

(A) full (C) pack

(B) crowded (D) filled




23. “You must not accept things from __________,” cautioned Mother.

(A) aunts (C) strangers

(B) cousins (D) relatives

24. My sister __________ stamps as a hobby.

(A) collects (C) makes

(B) arranges (D) does

25. Josephine is __________ a model of a house, please do not disturb her.

(A) doing (C) joining

(B) making (D) collecting

26. The place where animals are slaughtered is called an _______________.

(A) apiary (C) arsenal

(B) abattoir (D) aviary

27. Siuling finally ___________ her mother to buy her the doll.

(A) persuaded (C) pleaded

(B) commanded (D) enquired

28. All of them were asked to stay back and help __________ the hall for the party.

(A) beautify (C) decorate

(B) adorn (D) garnish

29. Much to her surprise, Mrs Yan found a litter of ________ by the roadside one day.

(A) squirrels (C) kittens(B) monkeys (D) peacocks

30. When Randy went to Australia, he was careful to _______ himself to their ways and

customs.

(A) adapt (C) act

(B) adopt (D) learn




Section C: Cloze Passages (20 marks)

Passage 1

There are 10 blanks, numbered 31 to 40, in the passage below. From the list of words

given in the box, choose the most suitable word and write the correct answer for each

blank in the answer booklet provided.

all because much such very

although in only them what

at it so themselves which

Fishing is a favourite pastime for some people. Many people enjoy fishing with a rod and line

(31) _______ it is a very slow way of catching fish and it requires much patience. Furthermore,

one can catch (32)______ one fish at a time. Sometimes, the fishermen do not catch anything.

It is (33) _____ quicker to use nets. These are (34) _____ fishermen use when they go out in

boats to fish (35) ______the open sea. Sometimes, (36) _____ many fish get into the net that

(37) ______ breaks and then all the fish escape. Moreover, on certain occasions, fishermen can

catch (38) _____ a large number of fish that they may not be able to sell (39) _____ of them. In

such instances, the fish (40) _____ are not sold are given away to families and friends.

Passage 2

In the passage below, there are ten items, numbered 41 to 50. From the words given in

the box, choose the most suitable word and write the correct answer for each blank in theanswer booklet provided.

mouths taking evaporation regulating swim

melting pull legs tossing sweat

nights sag moist basking crawl

Alligators and crocodiles spend a lot of their time (41) ____ their body temperature. They

spend their (42) _____ in water, where they hunt for fish and other prey. In the morning, they

(43) ____ themselves out on to a sandbank or beach, where they lie (44) _____ in the sunshine.

They do not (45) _____. If they get too hot, they open their (46) _____ so that evaporation

takes place from their (47) _____ lining, and this cools them. They also allow the flesh beneath

the lower jaw to (48) _____ , and this increases the area from which (49) ______ can take

place. If this is still insufficient to cool their bodies, they may (50) ______ back into the water.




Section D: Comprehension (30 marks)

Read the passage carefully and answer questions 51 to 65. Write all your answers in the

answer booklet provided. Mistakes in spelling, punctuation and grammar may be

penalised in any part of the paper.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Inuit hunters in the Canadian Arctic have reported more polar bear

sightings near their villages in recent years. More sightings means more

bears, the reasoning goes, so regional governments have upped their

hunting quotas. In the northern Canadian province of Nunavut, wildlife

officials upped hunting quotas, increasing the total allowable bear harvest

by almost twenty-nine percent eighteen months ago.

But a new study says this doesn't mean there are more bears in the region—

there are fewer bears, and they're hungrier. The study suggests that at least

two polar bear populations in the Canadian Arctic are in fact shrinking,

and three other groups may face similar pressures.

A more likely explanation for the increased bear sightings, Canadian

Wildlife Service polar bear biologist Ian Stirling, who co-wrote the study

says, is that Arctic sea ice is breaking up earlier each summer. "The bears

have less time to feed at the best time of year in order to put on the fat they

fast on through the open-water season in the summer and autumn," Stirling

said.

Because the breakup has arrived progressively earlier in most areas, bears

are also spending more time on land instead of on ice, where they hunt.

Hungry bears then push into human settlements at the end of their longersummer fasts in search of food.

Melting Ice In their study, biologist Stirling and study co-author Claire L. Parkinson, a

climatologist, combine long-term polar bear population data with a nearly

daily record of Arctic sea ice conditions gathered by two NASA satellites

between 1978 and 2004.

The scientists discovered that the summer breakup of Arctic sea ice has

crept an average of 0.75 days earlier a year, or 7 to 8 days a decade. “I

would say that the strongest likelihood for why the Arctic ice is decreasingis because the Arctic is getting warmer," Parkinson said.

Such changes directly impact the region's polar bears, since the Arctic

predators hunt seals on the winter sea ice and must fast on land during the

summer melt. "The ice is breaking up there now about three weeks earlier

than it did only thirty years ago," Stirling, the polar bear biologist, said.

Most polar bears can handle a single season of early ice breakup, the

authors write. But they add that "as the number of consecutive short ice

seasons increases, the cumulative stress on the polar bears is bound to

increase as well."

5

10

15

20

25

30

35




9

10

11

12

13

14

Lower Birth Rates Ringed seals, the polar bears' main food source, also appear to have

experienced either lower birth rates or lower cub-survival rates in the

1990s, perhaps as a result of poor ice conditions and other environmental

changes, Stirling says.

The average weight of adult female polar bears has dropped by nearly 150

pounds (65 kilograms) in just 25 years, from 650 pounds (295 kilograms)

in 1980 to 507 pounds (230 kilograms) in 2004, the scientists say.

The UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts

that global warming will cause Earth's average surface temperatures to

warm between 2.5 to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius)

within the next century.

If that forecast proves true, the five Canadian Arctic polar bear populationswill experience significant declines, Stirling says. He adds that within 20 to

30 years, adult females may become too skinny to produce cubs.

"If that happens, then it's going to be hard on polar bears," he said.

"Obviously some bears will probably survive for a long time. But we won't

have the kind of numbers we have today."

In light of the study findings, the biologist has called on regional

governments to use a precautionary approach to managing polar bears,

reduce hunting quotas as needed, and include climate trends in developing

conservation plans for the species. He adds that countries and consumersmust also reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

40

45

50

55

60

Note: When a question asks you to answer in your own words, YOU MUST NOT COPY THE

WORDS FROM THE PASSAGE IN YOUR ANSWER.

From paragraph 1

51. How has the regional governments of the Canadian Artic been affected by theincrease in polar bear sightings? [1m]

From paragraph 2

52. What does “a new study” (line 7) show? [2m]




From paragraph 3

53. Indicate the word which suggests the study of polar bears was undertaken by more

than one person? [1m]

54. What do you think the polar bears would do during summer and autumn for the harsh

winter? [1m]

From paragraph 4

55. What do you think the hungry bears do at the end of their long summer fasts in search

of food ?[2m]

From paragraph 5

56. What are the areas of specialisation for Stirling and Parkinson. [2m]

(a) Stirling

(b) Parkinson

From paragraphs 6

57. What are the changes the scientist discover from the conditions in the Arctic sea ice?

[2m]

From paragraphs 7 & 8

58. What do you think the writer is indicating at “the Arctic predators’ (line 30) ? [1m]

59. What is the reason for the ‘cumulative stress’(line 36) on the polar bears when there are

more consecutive short ice seasons? [2m]

From paragraphs 9 & 10

60. What does Stirling think would happen to the ringed seals ‘as a result of poor ice

conditions and other environmental changes’ (line 41)? [2m]




From paragraph 11

61. Which word in the paragraph tells you that the study on global warming was done in

two or more states? [1m]

From paragraph 12

62. Explain what the ‘forecast’ (line 50) is referring to. [2m]

From paragraph 14

63. Explain the meaning of these two phrases in your own words. [2m]

a. In light of (line 56)

b. called on (line 56)

64. List the four things that regional governments could do to save the polar bears. [4m]

65. For each of the following words, give one word or phrase (of not more than seven words) which has the same meanings that the word has in the passage. [1m each]

a. shrinking (line 9)

b. fast (line 15)

c. push into (line 19)

d. food source (line 39)

e. global warming (line 47)

End-of-Paper

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2010_EnglishScreenTestSample