Zadania 1–10 — 40 punktów / 90 minut
Read the text below. For each statement, decide if it is True, False, or if there is No Information in the text.
The United Kingdom is made up of four countries, but they are far from equal in size. England, with about 53 million people, has a bigger population than the other three nations put together: Scotland has around 5.3 million, Wales about 3 million and Northern Ireland fewer than 2 million. Three of the four share the island of Great Britain, while Northern Ireland lies on the island of Ireland, which it shares with the Republic of Ireland, a separate and independent country.
Each nation has its own capital. London is the capital of both England and the whole UK, and it is also the country’s largest city. Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, was built on hills, and its castle stands on top of an extinct volcano. Cardiff, in Wales, has a medieval castle of the motte-and-bailey type: a fort raised on a hill, with a courtyard below it. Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, is by far its biggest city — about four times the size of Derry/Londonderry. Belfast was once a shipbuilding centre, and the Titanic was built there.
Scotland’s Ben Nevis, at 1,345 metres, is the highest point in the whole UK. Snowdon in Wales reaches 1,085 metres and England’s Scafell Pike 978 metres, while Slieve Donard in the Mourne Mountains of Northern Ireland is the lowest of the four at 850 metres. Rivers tell a different story. The Severn, which flows between Wales and England, is the longest river in the UK at 354 kilometres, just ahead of the Thames at 346 kilometres. Scotland’s longest river, the Tay, is only 188 kilometres long, and Northern Ireland’s longest, the Bann, is shorter still at 129 kilometres. With lakes, however, the smallest nation wins: Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland is the largest freshwater lake in the UK, bigger than Scotland’s Loch Lomond or England’s Windermere.
Nearly half of all Scots live near the coast, and Wales has a coastline on the Irish Sea. Each nation also keeps its own symbols: Wales flies a red dragon, Scotland’s national flower is the thistle, and England’s is the Tudor rose.
The castles in Edinburgh and Cardiff both stand on high ground.
The nation with the highest mountain also has the largest lake.
The Titanic left Belfast on its first voyage.
Derry/Londonderry is about a quarter of the size of Belfast.
Most people in Wales live near the sea.
Every one of the four nations has a river longer than 150 kilometres.
Read the text below. Four sentences have been removed. Choose from options A–G the one which best fits each gap. Three options are distractors and do not fit any gap.
Wales is one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. It lies on the island of Great Britain, which it shares with England and Scotland, and its coastline faces the Irish Sea. Just over three million people live there, which makes it far less crowded than England next door. Of the four nations, it is the third largest by population: only Northern Ireland has fewer people. In the capital, Cardiff, and in the other important cities, Newport and Swansea, you will hear both of them.
Much of the country’s fame comes from its mountains. Snowdon, the highest peak, rises to 1,085 metres and shares its name with Snowdonia National Park. Neither of them, however, has a summit as high as Snowdon, which remains the highest mountain in the whole of Wales.
Water shapes the landscape too. The River Severn, which runs between Wales and England, is 354 kilometres long. The Thames, England’s great river, is shorter at 346 kilometres. On the coast there is a stranger sight: the Blue Lagoon, a pool of bright blue water in an old quarry beside the sea. It was made by people, not by nature, and its colour comes from the slate rock that surrounds it.
Wales is also proud of its history. In Cardiff stands a medieval castle of the motte and bailey type, which means it was built on a hill with a courtyard beside it. Older still is Tintern Abbey, a church founded in 1131, which inspired the poet William Wordsworth to write one of his most famous poems. Every nation has its symbols, and those of Wales are easy to recognise. Alongside them stand St David, the country’s patron saint, and a traditional costume, the Welsh bedgown, which is worn as national dress. The Union Jack, the flag of the whole United Kingdom, is a different matter: it was created in 1606 and belongs to all four nations together.
Complete each sentence. Choose A, B or C.
We ______ off for Ben Nevis before sunrise to beat the crowds.
Don’t make a mountain out of a ______ — the train is only ten minutes late.
Everyone in the village is quiet today, but it’s just the calm before the ______.
We only had one tent between six of us, so it was a bit of a ______ squeeze.
Complete each mini-dialogue. Choose A, B or C.
X: Do you still walk along the Giant’s Causeway every weekend?
Y: Come rain or ______ — it’s my favourite place in Northern Ireland.
X: How far is it from Edinburgh to Glasgow?
Y: About seventy kilometres as the ______ flies.
X: I’m so sorry — I’ve dropped your map in a puddle.
Y: Never ______. I’ve got another one in the car.
X: Let’s cycle across the Pennines next weekend!
Y: Hold your ______! That’s over two hundred kilometres.
Read the text below. Complete each gap (5.1.–5.10.) with one word to create a coherent and grammatically correct text.
Northern Ireland is the smallest 5.1. _______ the four nations of the United Kingdom. It has been part 5.2. _______ the UK since 1921, and its capital city is Belfast, which 5.3. _______ once one of the great shipbuilding centres of the world — the Titanic 5.4. _______ built there.
The most famous natural landmark in Northern Ireland is the Giant’s Causeway, 5.5. _______ consists of roughly 40,000 hexagonal columns of rock. According 5.6. _______ legend, the columns were laid down by a giant so that he 5.7. _______ walk across the sea to Scotland. Scientists explain them 5.8. _______ the result of a volcanic eruption.
Lough Neagh, the largest lake in the British Isles, lies in the centre of the country. It is far bigger 5.9. _______ any lake in England or Wales, and it supplies much 5.10. _______ Northern Ireland’s drinking water.
Complete each sentence with one word. The number of dashes corresponds to the number of missing letters. Some letters are already given.
Northern Ireland lies on _ _ p _ _ _ _ _ island from the rest of the UK.
Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the UK, _ _ _ h _ _ _ _ it is not very high compared with the Alps.
Wales has three national parks _ _ s _ _ _ _ its small size.
The Titanic was built in Belfast, but it sank on its very first _ _ y _ _ _.
It rains a lot in the Lake District, _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ in autumn and winter.
Complete the mini-dialogues with the words given in brackets, in the correct form. Both gaps must be right to score the point. Full grammatical and spelling accuracy is required.
X: When we (walk) up Snowdon last summer, it suddenly (start) to rain.
Y: Did you turn back?
X: Have you ever been to the Giant’s Causeway?
Y: Yes, I (be) there twice, and I (hope) to go again next year.
X: Why is the path closed?
Y: It (damage) by the storm and (not be) repaired yet.
X: What did the ranger say?
Y: She said the castle (build) in 1283 and (restore) every year since.
X: Is Ben Nevis hard to climb?
Y: If you (prepare) properly, you (not have) any trouble.
Match three items to each country. Write the correct letter (A–L) in the table. Three options are distractors and do not belong to any of the three countries.
| Country | Item 1 | Item 2 | Item 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | |||
| Scotland | |||
| Wales |
| Country | Item 1 | Item 2 | Item 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | A | F | I |
| Scotland | B | E | H |
| Wales | C | D | G |
Choose the correct answer A, B, C or D.
In which year was the Union Jack created?
Which sentence is a false one?
You watched a vlog in which the presenter said that there is nothing worth seeing in the United Kingdom outside London.
Napisz swoją wypowiedź po angielsku (e-mail). Podpisz się jako XYZ. Rozwiń każdy z trzech podpunktów.
Po kliknięciu Zakończ egzamin wypowiedź zostanie sprawdzona automatycznie i dostaniesz ocenę każdego podpunktu.
Treść (3 pkt) — 1 punkt za każdy całkowicie rozwinięty podpunkt. Samo wspomnienie tematu nie wystarczy.
Poprawność językowa (2 pkt) — liczba błędów (gramatycznych, leksykalnych lub ortograficznych): do 3 → 2 pkt, 4–6 → 1 pkt, powyżej 6 → 0 pkt.