The American University of Cyprus - AUCY

ENGLISH PLACEMENT PAPER

Date: 16/7/2021
Duration: 1 hour, 30minutes
Tutor: Mrs. Vassilia Evangelou

Student’s Full Name: ___________________

Student’s Email: ___________________

Intended Major: ___________________

READING

An Olympic blog

What an Olympics!

Posted by Helen Nolan on 10 September, 2012 at 21:25

It’s all over! I’ve been writing my blog from London every day during the Olympics and the
Paralympics and this is my final post to look back on a wonderful couple of months. Here are some
of the things that were the most memorable for me:

The Opening Ceremony

This set the scene for the Games with an amazing show featuring music, dancing, historical figures,
fireworks and British humour. A huge number of volunteers practised for months to make everything
perfect. The best moment was when the old lady in Buckingham Palace turned round and showed
that she was neither a lookalike nor an actor but Her Majesty the Queen. The next best bit was when
she jumped out of a helicopter with James Bond (although I think that actually was an actor!).

Team GB
I was very proud of our team as we kept on winning medals and finished in third position in the
medal table, which is truly a great result for Great Britain. There were so many incredible sportsmen
and women. The ones that stand out for me are Mo Farah, the Somalian-born Londoner who won
the 10,000 and 5,000 metres with the whole stadium going crazy, Jessica Ennis, the popular super-
athlete from Sheffield who won the heptathlon, and Nicola Adams who won the first female boxing
medal in Olympic history for Britain.

The Olympic Stadium crowd

Although the crowd cheered on the British, there was lots of support for athletes of other nationalities
too like the wonderful Usain Bolt, from Jamaica, who won the 100 and 200 metres sprint to become
the fastest man alive. There was also Oscar Pistorius of South Africa who was the first disabled
person to compete in the Olympics. He went on to win two gold medals and a silver in the
Paralympics.

New sports
I have really enjoyed being able to watch sports which are not normally shown on television. Before
the Olympics I didn’t expect to love watching judo or find myself screaming at the television during a
game of wheelchair tennis, but I really got into them. I didn’t know anything about goalball before the
Paralympics but it became one of my favourite sports.

The organisation and the atmosphere

It took seven years of planning and 70,000 volunteers to make everything go well. Many people
have said that the organisation was not as perfect as that of the Beijing Games, but there was a
much better atmosphere which spread out through the whole city. The volunteers were always
friendly and helpful and Londoners even began talking to each other, and visitors, on the
underground trains!
Olympic blog
Read the questions and choose the correct answer.

1. How long did the Olympics and Paralympics last?

a) a couple of months
b) two weeks
c) seven years

2. What does the blogger think was the best thing during the opening ceremony?
a) the British humour
a) the volunteers
b) the Queen's appearance

3. How does the blogger feel about the British athletes' performance?

a) disappointed
a) surprised
b) proud

4. Which of these British athletes was born in a foreign country?

a) Jessica Ennis
a) Mo Farah
b) Nicola Adams

5. Which athlete competed in both the Olympics and Paralympics?

a) a)Usain Bolt
b) Oscar Pistorius
c) Mo Farah

6. Which sport was completely new to the blogger?

a) a)wheelchair tennis
b) goalball
c) judo

7. How did the London Olympics compare to the Beijing Olympics, according to the blogger?

a) a)It was better organised, but the atmosphere wasn't as good.

b) It was very similar.
c) It was not as well organised, but there was a better atmosphere.

8. What did the blogger say changed about Londoners during the Olympics?

a) a)They volunteered.
 b) They watched new sports.
c) They talked to each other on the trains.

WRITING

Write about the best holiday experience you have ever had. In your writing you
should mention:

 General information about the place e.g name, population, local

people’s attitude.
 Tourist attractions visited.
 Activities you did there.
 One thing you enjoyed the most and why.

Word limit 250-300 words.

_

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

GRAMMAR
Underline the correct answer.