Reading (45 minutes)

The best musical shows in town

A. Glad!

Glad! tells the story of a teenage girl whose dreams of becoming a famous musician come true with the help of some special (and amusing!) friends. The costumes and songs are amazing, and although it's fiction, it has the feel of a real-life story. It's on for one week only, on a temporary stage in the football stadium.

B. Mary Wright

The two well-known lead actors in this 16"-century drama are surprisingly good dancers, and the music creates quite a scary atmosphere. The clothes by top designer Jean- Luc Filbert are historically accurate and look absolutely wonderful.

C. The Amazing Mr Mason

This unusual musical is based on a famous story written over 400 years ago. The hero falls in love with a princess who's forced to move to another country. There's quite a lot of speaking for a musical, but the ending's a surprising pleasure.

D. The End of Summer

You've probably read the novel which this musical comedy takes its story from, but you won't recognise the songs, as they were specially written for the show. Several songwriters were needed, due to the wide variety of music the producers wanted. The stars, who you'll probably recognise from TV, are fantastic.

E. Keeping Time

Keeping time is based on the real-life story of the popular group Marcellous, and includes their best work. We see how having members from three different continents allowed them to create songs using music from each place. Unusually, there's ballet in this show, but it goes surprisingly well with their music.

F. No Exit

With its use of film and advanced technology to make it seem like the characters appear in two places at once, this spectacular musical starts off as an old-fashioned ghost story but quickly turns into a highly entertaining romantic comedy. The fact that the show is performed in an old factory building only adds to the enjoyment.

G. Tiger Prince

The Tiger Prince leaves his jungle home and comes to the city in this fabulous musical. The story isn't particularly original but the computer-controlled light show goes perfectly with the amazing dance routines to make this a must-see show.

H. The Final Whistle

If you're hired of serious dramas and dull love stories, why not give this laugh-a-minute show a trg? the true story of basketball player Andy Hammond is cleverly hold. Despite being advertised as a musical show, it actually has very few songs. You'll love all the brilliantjokes and entertaining conversations.

Write the right LETTER in the empty spaces.

Part 3

Questions 11-15

For each question, choose the correct answer

My Canadian trip

by Louise Walton

Last year I went on an amazing trip — travelling by boat on a guided group tour along the west coast of Canada. It was my brother Harry's idea. He's a journalist, like me, and he wanted to write articles about the trip. He's also a great fan of boats, although that's one interest we definitely don't share. But I'd dreamt of visiting the area ever since seeing it on TV as a child, especially as I knew it was where our great-grandparents had lived before moving to Europe. So I kept asking Harry if I could go too — until he finally agreed!

A few weeks before we left home, there were storms in the area we were going to. But luckily the forecast for the time we intended to be there was for calm seas. Although there was plenty to arrange, I was busy at work so didn't have much time to think about what needed doing. But Harry promised he'd taken care of everything, so I knew everything would be all right.

After arriving in Canada, we joined the group, packed our Iimited supplies into small boats and set off. The guide had mentioned that very few people now lived along that coast, and sure enough, the only other living creatures we saw for the first few days were dolphins and birds. We knew there were islands in the distance, but the early-morning fog made it hard to see very far, so I just focussed on the beautiful patterns our boat made in the water.

We often stopped for hours to explore the rock pools on the beaches. They were full of amazing coloured fish, many of which I didn't recognise. And it was great to be able to stop caring about how quickly or slowly the day was passing. We never forgot lunch or dinner, though, which we all made together over camp fires. When we finally fell asleep on the boats each evening, even though the beds were hard, it really felt like stress-free living!

When the time came to leave, I was sad. How could I return to normal life again? But I knew if I stayed, I'd miss family and friends. I was also looking forward to telling everyone at home about our adventures!

Part 4

Questions 16-20

Five sentences have been removed from the text below. For each question, choose the correct answer.

There are three extra sentences which you do not need to use.

The Museum of Trash

In an industrial area in California, in the USA, large garbage trucks regularly deliver tons of rubbish to a recycling centre. Meanwhile, coaches deliver crowds of people who are coming to visit The Museum of Trash. (16)............... It is a colourful elephant made entirely out of rubbish.

The unusual sculpture was created out of all sorts of rubbish: old signs, mobile phones, shoes, sunglasses, plastic toys, car number plates, and anything else that the artist could get his hands on. 

(17)................ They have fun trying to find them all. The sculpture is 4 metres tall and weighs around 900 kg, which is equal to the average amount of rubbish each person in California throws away every year (18).................

While the elephant sculpture is popular, visitors also enjoy being able to see what happens at a real recycling centre. Rubbish which can be recycled is brought here every day.  (19)............ People who live in these places are happy to know that what they throw away will not be wasted. Once it has arrived at the recycling centre, the rubbish is put into separate containers according to what it is made from, and sold to businesses that can use it to create new products. The companies make a range of things out of the recycled materials, and some of them can be bought in the museum shop'

‘What is really exciting is that people go home and tell their friends what they can recycle,’ says the museum's director. (20)................ They can see where all the rubbish goes and learn that recycling is better than just wasting things.’

Part 5

Questions 21-26

For each question, choose the correct answer.

Inventing the telephone

The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell. His first career involved teaching people how to use a system which his father had (21)............. to help deaf people communicate. Because of this, Bell became more and more interested in all types of communication.

Bell wanted to (22)............. it possible for people to talk to each other over (23)............. distances. He realised that he had to turn sound into electricity and then back to sound again. This was a big engineering. (24)...............

In 1876, after several months of hard work on this problem, Bell and his assistant Thomas Watson (25)............. it.

The first words ever spoken on the telephone are famous. Bell was working on their new invention in his laboratory when he accidentally (26)................. dangerous liquid on his clothes. He called Watson and said, ‘Come here, I want to see you!’

Part 6

Questions 27—32

For each question, write the correct answer.

Write one word for each gap.

From: Harry

To: Oliver

Subject: Piano lessons

Hi Oliver,

Guess what? I've finally started piano lessons, like you! As you know, it's something I've wanted to do ever (27)..............  I was young. Anyway, a couple of months ago I saw someone playing the piano on TV — he was brilliant. And when I found out he'd only started playing quite recently, that encouraged (28)................ to start lessons.

I've got a really good teacher, and I go to her house twice a week (29)................ lessons. She's very patient. Every time I make a mistake, she explains what I did wrong. Also, I couldn't read music when I started. It's been hard to learn to read the notes on the page and decide which piano keys to use at the  (30)................. time! But when I finally play something that other people recognise, it really makes me happy. Maybe (31)................ I'll become even better (32).................. you are at playing the piano!