TEXT 1: SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUE…

1 Last August, a 911 operator came to the rescue of a desperate bride, but not in the way you would expect. A bride named
2 Amanda had her wedding dress stolen on the morning of her nuptials! She had been packing her car when, upon returning from a
3 quick trip to the house, she discovered the dress had gone missing. Panicking, she called 911 to report the theft.
4 Candice, the 911 dispatcher answering the call, couldn't help but sympathize with Amanda. She said that all she kept thinking
5 was "I have a wedding gown. Maybe she could wear that. Here we go, let's see if she wants it."
6 On an impulse, Candice asked her supervisor if she could offer the bride her dress. Of course, she had no idea if the dress
7 would fit, much less if Amanda would even want to give it a try. Luckily, her supervisor agreed and let her do it. Though grateful
8 for the offer, the traumatized bride asked to see a picture of the gown first. Candice completely understood. She texted the police
9 officer on the scene a picture of the gown and, thankfully, Amanda loved it.
10 The operator then asked her husband to pick up the dress, which was in her parents' attic. After overcoming a series of
11 obstacles, including discovering that he had taken the wrong keys, Candice's husband successfully delivered the dress to the bride
12 in time, and the wedding went off without any further incidents.
13 Some days later, newlywed Amanda surprised Candice at her office to return her dress. She wanted to say a personal and
14 heartfelt thank you to the woman that she believes saved her wedding.

1. According to the text, the person who took Candice's gown to the bride was…
(a) Candice herself.
(b) the police officer on the scene.
(c) Candice's husband.
(d) Candice's supervisor.

2. According to the text, …
(a) desperate Amanda didn't accept the offer immediately.
(b) Candice attended the wedding ceremony.
(c) Candice's husband forgot to take the keys.
(d) the wedding gown needed some minor alterations.

3. Amanda left her wedding dress unsupervised.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

4. Candice's manager disapproved of her kind gesture.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

5. Apart from the dress incident, there were no other impediments to the ceremony.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

6. Amanda and Candice never met each other.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

7. FIND IN THE TEXT:

7.1. ONE SYNONYM FOR: "perhaps" (adverb)
7.2. ONE SYNONYM FOR: "sincere" (adjective)

8. FIND IN THE TEXT:

8.1. ONE WORD MEANING: "to be of the right size"
8.2. ONE WORD MEANING: "to understand and care about someone's problem"

TEXT 2: SANAS CAN CHANGE YOUR ACCENT

1 English is the world's most widely used language. An estimated 1.5 billion people speak it, and most of them aren't native
2 speakers. In the United States alone, millions of people speak English as a second language. A new company called Sanas is
3 testing out artificial intelligence-powered software that aims to eliminate miscommunication by changing people's accents in real
4 time. A call center worker in the Philippines, for example, could speak normally into the microphone and end up sounding more
5 like someone from Kansas to a customer on the other end. The American accent sounds somewhat artificial, Siri-like, but they are
6 working on improving the technology. The idea is that, rather than learning to pronounce words differently, you could have
7 technology do it for you. And understanding would be nearly instantaneous.
8 The three founders of Sanas met at Stanford University, but they're all from different countries originally. All three say they've
9 experienced over the years how accents can get in the way. "We all come from international backgrounds. We've seen firsthand
10 how people treat you differently just because of the way you speak," Maxim Serebryakov, one of the founders, says. He also
11 remarks that people's accents and identities can be closely linked, and he stresses that the company isn't trying to erase accents
12 or imply that one way of speaking is better than another.
13 Eventually, they hope the app they're developing will be used by a variety of industries and individuals. It could help doctors
14 better understand patients. Someday, they say, it could also assist language learners and improve dubbing in movies. It could
15 even help smart speakers in homes and voice assistants in cars understand different accents.

9. According to the text, the majority of English speakers…
(a) have an American accent.
(b) live in the US.
(c) don't have English as their first language.
(d) use apps to help their pronunciation.

10. According to the text, Sanas…
(a) takes too long to process the change of accent.
(b) intends to improve communication.
(c) is not based on artificial intelligence.
(d) translates from one language to another.

11. Sanas technology has succeeded in replicating the sound of a real human accent.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

12. According to the text, Sanas considers some accents superior to others.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

13. The film industry is likely to benefit from software like Sanas.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

14. Sanas might be used as an aid to improve the performance of home devices.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

15. FIND IN THE TEXT:

15.1. ONE SYNONYM FOR: "emphasize" (verb)
15.2. ONE SYNONYM FOR: "client" (noun)

16. FIND IN THE TEXT:

16.1. ONE WORD MEANING: "failure to transmit information successfully to somebody"
16.2. ONE WORD MEANING: "obtained or experienced by direct personal observation"

17. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH A CORRECT FORM OF THE VERB IN BRACKETS:

17.1. "Susan gave up… five years ago." (jog)
17.2. "No, the word stunning… that!" (not mean)

18. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE CORRECT OPTION:

18.1. "… people sing country music in Spain." A lot / Few / Much / Little
18.2. "My brother is coming to pick me… at the bus station." after / up / in / on

19. TURN THIS SENTENCE INTO THE ACTIVE VOICE: "When her parents passed away, she was brought up by a foster family."

20. TURN THIS SENTENCE INTO THE PASSIVE VOICE: "Did they make these high-end clothes in Spain in the 1990s?"

21. GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNDERLINED WORDS: "They used to go to the cinema every two weeks."

22. JOIN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES USING A RELATIVE. MAKE CHANGES IF NECESSARY: "Mary has got a new boyfriend. His mother is a very well-known writer."

23. REWRITE THE NEXT SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING. BEGIN AS INDICATED: "We suggest that we make a move today." What about...?

24. COMPLETE THIS CONDITIONAL SENTENCE: "If she dares to do that again, …"

25. REWRITE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING. BEGIN AS INDICATED: "First, Sophie warmed up for ten minutes. Then, she worked out for two hours." After...

26. THERE ARE TWO MISTAKES IN THIS SENTENCE. FIND THE MISTAKES AND REWRITE THE SENTENCE CORRECTLY: "A friend of us has worked like a hairdresser in the past, but he wouldn't like to do it again."

27. TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO REPORTED SPEECH: "'We won't meet our new literature teacher tomorrow,' the students said."

28. USE THE WORDS IN THE BOXES TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL SENTENCE. USE ALL AND ONLY THE WORDS IN THE BOXES WITHOUT CHANGING THEIR FORM:

did · long · for · you · come · wait · the · train · to · how

29. WRITE A COMPOSITION OF AT LEAST 120 WORDS ABOUT ONE OF THE TOPICS PROPOSED AND FOCUS ON IT. CHOOSE ONE TOPIC ONLY:

29.1. Do you like rituals and ceremonies? Explain.
29.2. What are your favourite apps? Explain.