(Πάτα το play button για να ξεκινήσει το listening)

You will hear some sentences. You will hear each sentence twice. Choose the best reply to each
sentence.

 

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

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Read the text and the statements. Some of these statements are true according to the text;
some of them are false. Choose the correct answer True (T) or False (F) for each statement.

 

In the centre of the room, mounted onto an upright wooden easel, stood the full-length portrait of a young man of extraordinary personal beauty, and in front of it, some little distance away, was sitting the artist himself, Basil Hallward, whose sudden disappearance some years ago caused, at the time, such public excitement and gave rise to so many strange assumptions.

As the painter looked at the gracious form he had so skilfully mirrored in his art, a smile of pleasure passed across his face, and seemed about to linger there. But he suddenly started up, and closing his eyes, placed his fingers upon the lids, as though he sought to imprison within his brain some curious dream from which he feared he might awake.

"It is your best work, Basil, the best thing you have ever done," said Lord Henry languidly. "You must certainly send it next year to the Grosvenor Gallery. The Academy is too large and too inelegant. Whenever I have gone there, there have been either so many people that I have not been able to see the pictures, which was dreadful, or so many pictures that I have not been able to see the people, which was worse. The Grosvenor is really the only place."

"I don't think I shall send it anywhere," he answered, tossing his head back in that odd way that used to make his friends laugh at him at Oxford. "No, I won't send it anywhere."

Lord Henry elevated his eyebrows and looked at him in amazement. "Not send it anywhere? My dear fellow, why? Have you any reason? What odd creatures you painters are! You do anything in the world to gain a reputation. As soon as you have one, you seem to want to throw it away. It is silly of you, for there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about. A portrait like this would set you far above all the young men in England, and make the old men quite jealous, if old men are ever capable of any emotion."

"I know you will laugh at me," he replied, "but I really can't exhibit it. I have put too much of myself into it."

 

1. Several hypotheses had been suggested as the reason of the artist’s previous
   disappearance.

2. According to Lord Henry, there weren’t enough visitors at the Academy
exhibition for Hallward’s portrait. 

3. The two men could see eye to eye regarding the public display of the portrait.

4. Lord Henry reckoned that the portrait could help the painter distinguish himself.

5. The artist believed his self-portrait was not an accurate representation of his
personality. 

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Read the text. Use the sentences to complete the text. Choose the correct sentence for each
gap. There are two extra sentences you will not need.

Why are flamingo birds pink?

With their bright feathers and strongly hooked beaks, flamingos are among the most easily recognized water birds. (1) _______ This is typically a tropical area, either a large lake or a lagoon. Flamingos are generally non-migratory birds, but a colony may relocate under the pressures of climate or water level changes. Populations that breed in high-altitude lakes, which may freeze over in the winter, move to warmer areas. (2) _______

 

Σε αυτήν την ερώτηση επέλεξε 2 απαντήσεις, 1 για το κενό (1) και μία για το κενό (2)

Flamingos are filter feeders, living off algae and tiny animals such as shrimp and insect larvae that live in the mud at the bottom of shallow pools. Their long legs allow them to wade into deep water to search for food. Their unusually shaped beak contains plates that act like tiny filters to trap shrimp and other water creatures. They use their tongues to suck water in at the front of the beak and pump it out through the sides. Specific types of flamingos, such as Andean flamingos, eat algae, cyanobacteria, and hard-shelled plants. (3) _______ Others, like Caribbean flamingos, eat larger organisms, such as insects and small fish, using their feet to stir up the sea bottom.

Flamingo feathers obtain their wonderful rosy pink colour from pigments in the organisms they eat. The flamingos’ feathers, legs, and face are coloured by their diet, which is rich in carotenoid pigments. Carotenoids in crustaceans such as those in the flamingo diet are frequently linked to protein molecules and may be blue or green. (4) _______ The same effect is seen when shrimp change colour during cooking. The amount of pigment laid down in the feathers depends on the quantity of pigment in the flamingo’s diet. An absence of carotenoids in its food will result in new feather growth that is very pale.

(5) _______ Zoos like the San Diego Zoo and Animal Park use special flamingo “food balls” enriched with pigment. Captive flamingos also require water so that they can eat by pumping water through their beaks, as they do in the wild.

There is something that flamingos and salmon have in common – their colour. Both salmon farmers and zookeepers rely on doses of a carotenoid, such as canthaxanthin or a similar pigment, to keep fish and flamingos colourful. (6) _______ In zoos, flamingos need a diet rich in carotenoids to maintain their distinctive plumage. In fish farms and bird parks, carotenoids are added to the feed to create a pleasing pink colour, but this does not affect palatability or health.

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Read the four texts. Which text gives you the answer to each question? Choose the correct text
(A-D) for each question.

 

A.

Traditional acupuncture is a branch of traditional Chinese medicine – a tried and tested healthcare system that has been practised for thousands of years in China and the Far East. It has been developed, tested, researched and refined over centuries to create a complex and detailed understanding of the body's energetic balance. The first known book of Chinese Medicine, the Classic of Internal Medicine of the Yellow Emperor, dates back to the first century BC. All styles of acupuncture currently practised around the world trace their roots back to this text. Without the help of modern scientific equipment, ancient Chinese scholars discovered many now familiar aspects of biomedical science, such as the effect of emotional stress on the immune system. Traditional acupuncturists are no less scientific or sophisticated than western clinicians in their understanding of how the body functions, although to this day they use terminology that reflects Chinese medicine's cultural and historic origins.

B.

Acupuncture involves inserting fine needles at particular points in your skin. The therapist may stimulate the needles manually, using a dried herb or by a small electrical current. Practitioners sometimes treat more than one person at a time, because the needles have to be left in place for some time. The needles are very fine, so having them inserted is rarely painful. Sometimes you may have a sensation of heaviness at the insertion site, and this is considered a good sign. Acupuncture seems to relieve pain by diverting or changing the painful sensations that are sent to your brain from damaged tissues and by stimulating your body’s own pain-relieving hormones. This pain relief may only last a short time when you begin treatment, but repeated treatment, usually weekly for six or eight sessions, can bring long-term benefit, often for several months. If the pain returns, then more acupuncture may help for another few months.

 

C.

Your results with acupuncture will depend to a great extent on the provider you select. We recommend finding an acupuncturist with whom you feel comfortable. If you like and trust your practitioner, your experience will be more positive. It's also important to know about the acupuncturist's training and experience, and what to expect from the treatment. The clearer you are about who is treating you, and exactly what the treatment involves, the more you will be able to relax during the acupuncture session and benefit from it. Determine your goals. Do you have a specific injury or complaint, or do you want to try acupuncture to balance body, mind and spirit? Are you looking for a primary health care practitioner, or someone to work together with your current physician? Ask your acupuncturist where they were trained and for how long, and find out what experience they have with your specific ailment.

 

D.

When Rania Paige, who was suffering from lower back pain, was told that surgery was inevitable, she decided to visit an acupuncturist who told her that they could help – but that it would take time. Six months later, she was back to her normal self – even going on long walks and climbing mountains. The doctors had been unable to even locate the source of the pain. Dan Warden says he was very pessimistic at first, but immediately after the treatment his back had eased significantly. He said, “I can only describe it as magic. I have no idea how it works, it just does. I’ve had it several times now for various back injuries and it’s worked every time.” Mary Wallace had a very different experience. Four years ago she went to a traditional Chinese medicine centre for acupuncture to treat her insomnia. She hated every minute of it, describing the treatment as expensive and not offering relief.

 

In which text does the writer:

1. offer guidelines to help people make a choice?

2. give information describing a process?

3. describe the background of a method to treat patients?

Which text is saying the following?

4. Some patients do not find the treatment effective.

5. There is a single common source for this medical treatment.

6. Practitioners may use different methods to perform this treatment.

7. The practitioner’s training may be a significant factor in the treatment’s success.