English Test – A Cell Phone? Never for me

A cell phone? Never for me.

1- Someday soon, I may be the last man in America without a cell phone. To those who see cell phones as progress, I say: they aggravate noise pollution and threaten our solitude. The central idea of cell phones is that you should be connected to almost everyone and everything at all times. The trouble is that cell phones assault your peace of mind no matter what you do.

2- Cell phones, like other triumphs of the mass market, have reached a point when people forget what it was like before they existed. No one remembers life before cars, TVs, air conditioners, jets, credit cards, and microwave ovens. So, too, now with cell phones. Anyone without one will soon be classified as a crank.

3- Look at the numbers. In 1985, there were 340213 cell phone users. By the end of 2003, they were 159 million. For adults between those 60 to 69, cell phone ownership is 60%. It is almost as high as among 18 to 24 year-olds which is 66%. According to a recent survey from the Pew Research Center, even among those 80 and older, ownership is 32%. Of course, cell phones have productive uses for those constantly on the road: salesmen, real estate agents, repair technicians, managers, and reporters.

4- Cell phones make driving more than dangerous. The Harvard Center for risk analysis blamed them for more than 6% of auto accidents each year, involving more than 2600 death.

5- Private conversations have gone public; we have all been subjected to someone else’s conversations. In 2003, cell phone conversations totaled 830 billion minutes. The average conversation lasts 2,5 to 1 minutes.

6- Cell phones keep company to people. However, there are folks who have cell phones but often wish they didn’t. A recent poll asked which invention people hated most but couldn’t leave without. The answer was cell phones. Cell phones and all wireless devices pretend to increase your freedom while actually stealing it. People devoted to staying interconnected are kept in a perpetual state of anxiety because they may have missed some significant bit of news.

I. COMPREHENSION (15 points)

BASE ALL YOUR ANSWERS ON THE TEXT

A. CHOOSE THE RIGHT ANSWER FROM THE LIST GIVEN (1 POINT)

The topic of the article:

1. Deals with the advantages of the new technologies.
2. Deals with the future of cell phones.
3. Is a criticism of cell phones?

B. ARE THESE SENTENCES TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY (4 POINTS)

1. The number of cell phone users is increasing. 
2. People of 80 years and older use cell phones the most. 
3. Cell phones give you freedom. 
4. Cell phones make people more anxious.

C. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES (4 POINTS)

1. Private conversations have gone so public that ……………
2. People hated cell phones. Nevertheless ………………..

D. FIND IN THE TEXT WORDS OR EXPRESSIONS THAT MEAN THE SAME AS (3 POINTS)

1. Make worse (paragraph 1): ……..
2. Great success (paragraph 2): ……… 
3. Many people (paragraph 6): …………

E. WHAT DO THE UNDERLINED WORDS REFER TO (3 POINTS)

1. They (paragraph 1): …………………….
2. It (paragraph 3): …………………….
3. It (paragraph 6): ………………….

II. LANGUAGE (15 POINTS)

A. FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH THE APPROPRIATE WORDS FROM THE LISTS. (2 POINTS)

1. Leila gave ….. driving after the accident.
   • In – at – up – for
2. After graduation, Kamal set ………. an expedition to Antarctica.
   • Off – on – about – at

B. MATCH THE WORDS THAT GO TOGETHER TO MAKE APPROPRIATE COLLOCATIONS. (3 POINTS)

A	B
Universal	shock
Culture	values
Civic	education

C. CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD TO FILL IN THE BLANK. (3 POINTS)

1. At the beginning of the 20th century, students were hardworking ……………… studying in difficult conditions.

Because – therefore – despite – since

2. Preparing couscous needs vegetables ……………. turnip, carrots and pumpkin.

Such as – although – if – so

3. ………………………….. in Athens, Morocco, had a few athletes participating in the Olympic games in Beijing.

However – although – as well as – unlike

D. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE APPROPRIATE RELATIVE PRONOUN. (2POINTS)

1. The flat …………. occupied the basement of the house, was very elegant.
2. The little boy ……………. mother lives abroad is very sad.

E. REWRITE THESE SENTENCES WITH THE WORDS GIVEN. (3 POINTS)

1. She read his writing, and a new idea took life in her mind.
   • As soon as ………………
2. It was extremely difficult for him to find his way back.
   • He wishes …………………….
3. I didn’t feel humiliated. On the contrary, I was delighted.
4. Instead …………………….

F. MATCH EACH SENTENCE (NUMBERS) WITH ITS APPROPRIATE FUNCTION (LETTERS). (2 POINTS)

1. Multilingualism means using or involving many languages.
2. I’m awfully sorry. I really forgot.

a. Apologizing
b. Permission
c. Defining

III. WRITING (10 POINTS)

Are mobile phones a necessity or a nuisance? Write an article for your school magazine, and discuss the utility of mobile phones.

Key Answers to English Test A Cell Phone? Never for me

I. COMPREHENSION (15 points)

A. CHOOSE THE RIGHT ANSWER FROM THE LIST GIVEN (1 POINT)

1. Deals with the advantages of the new technologies.
2. Deals with the future of cell phones.
3. Is a criticism of cell phones?

B. ARE THESE SENTENCES TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY (4 POINTS)

1. True. There were 340213 in 1985 and 159 million in 2003.
2. False. 32%.
3. False. They pretend to increase your freedom while actually stealing it.
4. True. People devoted to staying interconnected are kept in a perpetual state of anxiety.

C. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES (4 POINTS)

1. Private conversations have gone so public that we have all been subjected to someone else conversation.
2. People hated cell phones. Nevertheless, they couldn’t do without them.

D. FIND IN THE TEXT WORDS OR EXPRESSIONS THAT MEAN THE SAME AS (3 POINTS)

1. Aggravate
2. Triumphs
3. Folks

E. WHAT DO THE UNDERLINED WORDS REFER TO (3 POINTS)

1. They: cell phones
2. It: cell phone ownership
3. It: Freedom

II. LANGUAGE (15 POINTS)

A. FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH THE APPROPRIATE WORDS FROM THE LISTS. (2 POINTS)

1. Up
2. Off

B. MATCH THE WORDS THAT GO TOGETHER TO MAKE APPROPRIATE COLLOCATIONS. (3 POINTS)

1. Universal values
2. Culture shock
3. Civic education

C. CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD TO FILL IN THE BLANK. (3 POINTS)

1. Despite
2. Such us
3. Unlike

D. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE APPROPRIATE RELATIVE PRONOUN. (2 POINTS)

1. Which
2. Whose

E. REWRITE THESE SENTENCES WITH THE WORDS GIVEN. (3 POINTS)

1. As soon as she had read his writing, a new idea took life in her mind.
2. He wishes it had been easier to find.
   • He wishes it hadn’t been difficult for ……..
3. 3 Instead of feeling humiliated, I was delighted.

F. MATCH EACH SENTENCE (NUMBERS) WITH ITS APPROPRIATE FUNCTION (LETTERS). (2 POINTS)

1. Defining
2. Apologizing.