School of Foreign Languages

Centre for Independent English Language Assessment

INDEPENDENT ENGLISH EXAM

SAMPLE

2024
HSE University
School of Foreign Languages

Mock Test 1

Reading Section

Time 60 minutes
Information for candidates
The Reading section has three parts.
The parts of the Reading section can be completed in any order.
Read the instructions for each part carefully and answer all the questions.
Rationale for the tasks

The Reading section is aimed at assessing students’ reading skills in English for general
academic and communication purposes.

Within each part of the section, students are expected to read and understand a text on an
academic or professional non field-specific topic and complete tasks based on it. The tasks are
of different types including, but not limited to, matching, answering multiple choice questions,
and identifying information (True/False/Not Given). The number of tasks and their sequence in
each part may vary.

Passage 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-10, which are based on the reading passage
below.

Questions 1-6

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph (A-F) from the list of headings. There are 2
extra headings.

List of headings
i Dangers from the past
ii Getting around the problem
iii Unforeseen outcomes of the study
iv Setting up the scene for the study
v Preparing for an important occasion
vi Adding urgency to uncovering the truth
vii Surprisingly unsafe living environment
viii Highlighting new perspectives on the issue

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1. Paragraph A

Americans spend roughly 90 percent of their time indoors, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency notes. During that time, people cook. They clean. They chat, read, play, watch TV and
do other things. People also bathe and sleep. And throughout it all, they breathe. New studies find
that our activities can pollute the air we breathe indoors. And some of those compounds may harm
our health. Both indoors and out, “activities can be a main driver of air quality,” observes Marina
Vance, the researcher. Scientists have studied outdoor air pollution for decades. Many countries
have created laws to limit pollution in outdoor air. But researchers know much less about the
pollutants that can be created in reactions between chemicals floating around indoors.

2. Paragraph B

To learn more, Marina Vance and her team measured how some everyday activities can affect
what chemicals end up in indoor air. To do that, they went to a test house at the University of
Texas at Austin. This model home is equipped to measure energy use, how much outdoor air
comes in to flush out stale air, and other things related to how buildings function. Chief scientists
and engineers did all the cooking for a typical U.S. Thanksgiving celebration. They started with
a hearty breakfast. Then they prepared a large holiday dinner. Team members roasted a turkey.
They baked pies. They stirred up side dishes. Friends came over at dinner time to feast and visit.
Then came clean-up time. All along, other team members measured chemicals present in the air.

3. Paragraph C

The researchers focused on particulates. Particulates are teeny bits of pollution. They can harm
the heart, cause breathing problems and mess with some brain functions. The level of particulates
would be worse in parts of the world where people still cook indoors on wood stoves. Even the
heat from electric and gas stoves could create air currents that can spread chemicals from the food
throughout a home’s air. In real homes, people also shower or take baths and use personal-care
products. Such products include deodorants, nail polish, rubbing alcohol and shampoos. Joost de
Gouw is an atmospheric chemist at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Many home products
use chemicals called terpenes to mimic the smell of trees or other plants. And many terpenes are
volatile organic compounds. That means they become gases at room temperature.

4. Paragraph D

Home furniture, flooring and other products also can release gases into a home’s air. And some
of those can get into kids’ bodies, reports Heather Stapleton. In one recent study, she was part of
a team that focused on chemicals released into the air by sofas. Their foam cushions had been
treated with flame retardants known as PBDEs. Lab tests in animals have linked PBDEs to delays
in the animals’ development, to altered hormone levels and to other health problems. New sofas
no longer contain PBDEs. But many homes still have furniture that does still have them.

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Stapleton’s group found higher levels of these chemicals in the blood of children in homes with
those types of sofas, compared to kids in homes with PBDE-free furniture.

5. Paragraph E

Heather Stapleton and her team also looked for evidence of a chemical in vinyl floors: benzyl
butyl phthalate. Studies have linked this chemical to breathing problems, skin irritations and other
health problems. Children from homes with all vinyl floors had roughly 15 times as much of this
chemical in their blood as did kids in homes with no vinyl floors. Home products and furnishings
contain many additional chemicals, Stapleton points out. Often, however, products aren’t labelled
to identify them, she adds. That makes it hard for scientists to know what to look for when they
do research. And it’s even harder for consumers to know what chemicals may be shed by the
products they are looking to buy. Ask companies to tell you that information, she says. “Pressure
from the public can raise awareness with manufacturers.”

6. Paragraph F

There still is much to learn about how chemicals in our homes interact with each other and how
they might affect our health. The researchers mentioned that young people and their families can
take some steps to limit their exposures. Simple things like washing your hands before you eat
can reduce exposure to some of these chemicals. Washing would remove chemical-laden dust so
you wouldn’t eat it with your food. Vance now uses her kitchen’s exhaust fan every time she
cooks. She also made sure that it works properly. Opening the windows for ventilation helps from
time to time as well. However, there’s a trade-off in energy usage, she notes, if the outdoor air is
very warm or very cold. Open windows also won’t help much in areas with high air pollution.
Another option: Use a portable air cleaner, which filters particles from the air.

Taken from: Science News for Student

Questions 7-10

Decide whether the statements below agree with the information in the text.
In boxes, choose

TRUE if the statement is true.

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information in the text.
NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this.

[Link] effects of both indoor and outdoor activities on the air quality have been researched for a
long time.

Your answer:

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8. The scientists chose to conduct their experiment at a place allowing for the required
calculations.

Your answer:

9. On average, more children than adults get affected by the furnishing chemicals.

Your answer:

10. Washing hands is one of the common things to do to stay away from the vast majority of
chemicals.

Your answer:

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Passage 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 11-20, which are based on the reading
passage below.

Archaeologists at Northern Arizona University are hoping a new technology they helped pioneer
will change the way scientists study the broken pieces left behind by ancient societies. The team
from NAU's Department of Anthropology have succeeded in teaching computers to perform a
complex task many scientists who study ancient societies have long dreamt of: rapidly and
consistently sorting thousands of pottery designs into multiple stylistic categories. By using a
form of machine learning known as Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), the archaeologists
created a computerized method that roughly emulates the thought processes of the human mind
in analyzing visual information.
"Now, using digital photographs of pottery, computers can accomplish what used to involve
hundreds of hours of tedious, painstaking and eye-straining work by archaeologists who
physically sorted pieces of broken pottery into groups, in a fraction of the time and with greater
consistency," said Leszek Pawlowicz, adjunct faculty in the Department of Anthropology. He and
anthropology professor Chris Downum began researching the feasibility of using a computer to
accurately classify broken pieces of pottery, known as sherds, into known pottery types in 2016.
"On many of the thousands of archaeological sites scattered across the American Southwest,
archaeologists will often find broken fragments of pottery. Many of these sherds will have designs
that can be sorted into previously-defined stylistic categories, called 'types,' that have been
correlated with both the general time period they were manufactured and the locations where they
were made" Downum said. "These provide archaeologists with critical information about the time
a site was occupied, the cultural group with which it was associated and other groups with whom
they interacted."
The research relied on recent breakthroughs in the use of machine learning to classify images by
type, specifically CNNs. CNNs are now a mainstay in computer image recognition, being used
for everything from X-ray images for medical conditions and matching images in search engines
to self-driving cars. Pawlowicz and Downum reasoned that if CNNs can be used to identify things
like breeds of dogs and products a consumer might like, why not apply this approach to the
analysis of ancient pottery?
Until now, the process of recognizing diagnostic design features on pottery has been difficult and
time-consuming. It could involve months or years of training to master and correctly apply the
design categories to tiny pieces of a broken pot. Worse, the process was prone to human error
because expert archaeologists often disagree over which type is represented by a sherd, and might
find it difficult to express their decision-making process in words. An anonymous peer reviewer
of the article called this "the dirty secret in archaeology that no one talks about enough."
Determined to create a more efficient process, Pawlowicz and Downum gathered thousands of
pictures of pottery fragments with a specific set of identifying physical characteristics, known as
Tusayan White Ware, common across much of northeast Arizona and nearby states. They then
recruited four of the Southwest's top pottery experts to identify the pottery design type for every
sherd and create a 'training set' of sherds from which the machine can learn. Finally, they trained
the machine to learn pottery types by focusing on the pottery specimens the archaeologists agreed
on. "The results were remarkable," Pawlowicz said. "In a relatively short period of time, the

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computer trained itself to identify pottery with an accuracy comparable to, and sometimes better
than, the human experts."
For the four archaeologists with decades of experience sorting tens of thousands of actual
potsherds, the machine outperformed two of them and was comparable with the other two. Even
more impressive, the machine was able to do what many archaeologists can have difficulty with:
describing why it made the classification decisions that it did. Using colour-coded heat maps of
sherds, the machine pointed out the design features that it used to make its classification decisions,
thereby providing a visual record of its "thoughts."
Pawlowicz and Downum believe this ability could allow a computer to find scattered pieces of a
single broken pot in a multitude of similar sherds from an ancient trash dump or conduct a region-
wide analysis of stylistic similarities and differences across multiple ancient communities. The
approach might also be better able to associate particular pottery designs from excavated
structures which have been dated using the tree-ring method. "I fervently hope that Southwestern
archaeologists will adopt this approach and do so quickly. It just makes so much sense," said
Stephen Plog, emeritus professor of archaeology at the University of Virginia and author of the
book "Stylistic Variation in Prehistoric Ceramics." "We learned a ton from the old system, but it
has lasted beyond its usefulness, and it's time to transform how we analyse ceramic designs."
The researchers are exploring practical applications of the CNN model's classification expertise
and are working on additional journal articles to share the technology with other archaeologists.
They hope this new approach to archaeological analysis of pottery can be applied to other types
of ancient artefacts, and that archaeology can enter a new phase of machine classification that
results in greater efficiency of archaeological efforts and more effective methods of teaching
pottery designs to new generations of students.
*sherd - a broken pottery fragment, especially one of historic or archaeological value
Taken from: Science Daily

Questions 11 - 15

Choose the correct letter A, B, or C from the drop-down list under each question.

11. A new technology created by the scientists at Northern Arizona University allows computers
to:
A. restore broken parts of ancient ceramics
B. mimic the way information is perceived
C. work out the classes of antique pottery

12. While examining the artefacts, earlier archaeologists did not have to:
A. spend long hours sorting out sherds
B. manually categorise the fragments
C. analyse an array of photographs

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13. What information can the designs of pottery pieces give about the site they have been found
at?
A. information on design category the site belonged to
B. information on historical eras the site was inhabited
C. information on identities of people who made them

14. What was done to develop a new technique of arranging pottery parts?
A. various pottery pieces were collected together
B. a digital set of pieces was created by the computer
C. experts working in a particular field were invited

15. While working with the sherds the machine managed to:
A. justify its reasoning
B. describe the classifications
C. single out design features

Questions 16-20

Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes, choose

YES if the belief or claim are expressed in the passage

NO if the belief or claim are not expressed in the passage
NOT GIVEN if the belief or claim are not mentioned by the writer

16. CNNs have been viewed as a promising way to assist archaeologists in their task.

Your answer:

17. By developing a new approach, the scientists are trying to address an embarrassing issue in
archaeology.

Your answer:

[Link] suggested method is expected to focus solely on identical features of sherds from
different regions.

Your answer:

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19. The previous way of working with pottery is still considered applicable.

Your answer:

20. The proposed approach can also be implemented to work with contemporary pieces of art.

Your answer:

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Passage 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 21-30, which are based on the reading
passage below.

When a solution to a problem seems to have come to you out of thin air, it turns out you've more
than likely been struck with the right idea, according to a new study. A series of experiments
conducted by a team of researchers determined that a person's sudden insights are often more
accurate at solving problems than thinking them through analytically.

"Conscious, analytic thinking can sometimes be rushed or sloppy, leading to mistakes while
solving a problem," said team member John Kounios, PhD, professor in Drexel University's
College of Arts and Sciences and the co-author of the book "The Eureka Factor: Aha Moments,
Creative Insight and the Brain." "However, insight is unconscious and automatic; it can't be
rushed. When the process runs to completion in its own time and all the dots are connected
unconsciously, the solution pops into awareness as an Aha! moment. This means that when a
really creative, breakthrough idea is needed, it's often best to wait for the insight rather than
settling for an idea that resulted from analytical thinking."
Experiments with four different types of timed puzzles showed that those answers that occurred
as sudden insights (also described as Aha! moments) were more likely to be correct. Moreover,
people who tended to have more of these insights were also more likely to miss the deadline rather
than provide an incorrect, but in-time, answer. Those who responded based on analytic thought
(described as being an idea that is worked out consciously and deliberately) were more likely to
provide an answer by the deadline, though these last-minute answers were often wrong.
Carola Salvi, PhD, of Northwestern University, was lead author on the paper "Insightful solutions
are correct more often than analytic solutions" in the journal Thinking & Reasoning. "The history
of great discoveries is full of successful insight episodes, fostering a common belief that when
people have an insightful thought, they are likely to be correct," Salvi explained. "However, this
belief has never been tested and may be a fallacy based on the tendency to report only positive
cases and neglect insights that did not work. Our study tests the hypothesis that the confidence
people often have about their insights is justified."
Other co-authors on the paper with Salvi and Kounios were Mark Beeman (co-author of "The
Eureka Factor" with Kounios), also of Northwestern, Edward Bowden, of the University of
Wisconsin-Parkside, and Emanuela Bricolo, of Milano-Bicocca University in Italy.
Each experiment making up the study used one group of distinct puzzles: one experiment used
only linguistic puzzles, another used strictly visual ones, and two used puzzles with both linguistic
and visual elements. For example, one type of linguistic puzzle showed three different words:
"Crab," "pine" and "sauce." The experiment participant was then asked to provide the word that
could fit all of them to make a compound word, which was "apple," in this case. The visual puzzle
provided a scrambled image and required the participant to say what object they thought the
puzzle depicted.

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Each experiment consisted of between 50 and 180 puzzles. Participants were given 15 or 16
seconds to respond after seeing a puzzle. As soon as the participant thought they solved the puzzle,
they pressed a button and said their answer. Then they reported whether the solution came through
insight or analytical thinking. Overwhelmingly, responses derived from insight proved correct. In
the linguistic puzzles, 94 percent of the responses classified as insight were correct, compared to
78 percent for the analytic thinking responses. For the visual puzzles, 78 percent of the responses
were correct, versus 42 percent for the analytic responses.
When taking the timing into account, answers given during the last five seconds before the
deadline had a lower probability of being correct. For the linguistic puzzles, 34 percent of the
responses were wrong, compared to 10 percent of the responses being wrong for quicker answers;
for the visual puzzles, 72 percent of the answers given during the last five seconds were wrong.
The majority of those late wrong answers were based on analytic thinking. In one of the
experiments, the number of incorrect responses related to analytic thinking recorded in the last
five seconds was more than double the number of incorrect responses recorded as insights. Those
numbers for the last five seconds pointed to some participants guessing at the puzzles' solutions.
These participants were analytical thinkers.
"Deadlines create a subtle or not so subtle background feeling of anxiety," Kounios said. "Anxiety
shifts one's thinking from insightful to analytic. Deadlines are helpful to keep people on task, but
if creative ideas are needed, it's better to have a soft target date. A drop-dead deadline will get
results, but they are less likely to be creative results." Salvi concluded. Insightful thinkers tend
not to guess. They don't give an answer until they have had an Aha! Moment. "Because insight
solutions are produced below the threshold of consciousness, it is not possible to monitor and
adjust processing before the solution enters awareness," Beeman explained.
“Analytical thinking is best used for problems in which known strategies have been laid out for
solutions, such as arithmetic”, Kounios said. But for new problems without a set path for finding
a solution, insight is often best. The new study shows that more weight should be placed on these
sudden thoughts. "This means that in all kinds of personal and professional situations, when a
person has a genuine, sudden insight, then the idea has to be taken seriously," Bricolo said. "It
may not always be correct, but it can have a higher probability of being right than an idea that is
methodically worked out."
Taken from: Science Daily

Questions 21-26

Look at the list of statements below (21-26). Match each statement with the name of a
researcher given in the boxes.

NB: You may use any name more than once.

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21. Instant ideas should not be neglected as they can be extremely valuable.

Your answer: A John Kounios

B Carola Salvi
C Mark Beeman
D Emanuela Bricolo

22. In some situations, it is worth skipping the deadline and waiting for an idea to come.

Your answer: A John Kounios

B Carola Salvi
C Mark Beeman
D Emanuela Bricolo

23. Conscious thinking processes work better for the tasks with established solution patterns.

Your answer: A John Kounios

B Carola Salvi
C Mark Beeman
D Emanuela Bricolo

24. Insightful contemplations are still beyond our understanding of how to guide them.

Your answer: A John Kounios

B Carola Salvi
C Mark Beeman
D Emanuela Bricolo

25. Being under pressure may cause people to shut down their creative thinking mechanisms.

Your answer: A John Kounios

B Carola Salvi
C Mark Beeman
D Emanuela Bricolo

26. People used to focus primarily on the cases of immediate solutions that had favourable results.

Your answer: A John Kounios

B Carola Salvi
C Mark Beeman
D Emanuela Bricolo

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Questions 27-30

Complete the summary below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 27-30.

The team of scientists held several research observations which were called to study the
hypotheses about different types of thinking. The study conducted by Kounios and Salvi involved
experiments, in which they used language prompts, 27 , or both.
Interestingly, nearly one hundred percent of error-free replies for the task originated from
28 , whereas a greater 29 of making
a mistake came from conscious reasoning. Those who tended
to ponder on the answers turned out to be 30 .

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Writing Section

Time 60 minutes
Information for candidates
The Writing section has two tasks.
The tasks of the Writing section can be completed in any order.
Rationale for the tasks

The Writing section of the exam consists of two tasks which are aimed at assessing students’
writing skills in English for general academic and communication purposes.

In Task 1, students have to understand and describe visual information that is presented in
different formats including, but not limited to, line graphs, bar charts, pie charts, and tables.
Though authentic, graphs may contain altered or fictional names of organisations. This is done
to facilitate task and language focus.

In Task 2, students are to write an essay on a given topic providing valid well-structured and
well-developed arguments supported by evidence. Essay topics cover a range of themes related
to current societal issues.

Task 1
The chart below shows how much money five big pharmaceutical companies spent on
research in 2012 and 2018 and gives an estimate of the amounts spent in 2022.
Describe the data providing an overview of the general trends, reporting the main features, and
making comparisons.
Write at least 150 words. Recommended time to complete the task is 20 minutes.

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Research spending, $bn 2012 2018 2022

Novas

Fleming

Biopharm

Avicenna

Pharm

Task 2
Write an essay on the following topic:
A highly competitive environment is believed to be good for both studying and working.
Drawing on this, what is your opinion on the benefits and drawbacks of such an
environment?
In your essay, provide extended arguments supported by relevant evidence. Write at least 250
words. Recommended time to complete the task is 40 minutes.

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Listening Section

Time Approximately 20-25 minutes

Information for candidates
The Listening section has three parts.
You will hear each part once only. Before each part of the Listening section, you will have
some time to read the questions.
The tasks must be completed sequentially.
The recording will start playing automatically as soon as you press the "Start Attempt"
button.
Rationale for the tasks

The Listening section is aimed at assessing students’ listening skills in English for general
academic and communication purposes.

Students are expected to complete a series of listening comprehension tasks within each part of
the section. The tasks are of different types including, but not limited to, filling out a form,
answering multiple choice questions, and completing notes. The number of tasks and their
sequence in each part may vary.

Part 1
You will hear a man having a conversation with an HR specialist. First you have some time to
look at questions 1-6. You should answer the questions as you listen because you will hear the
recording once only. Listen carefully and answer questions 1-6.

Questions 1-6

Complete the form below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER
for each answer.

Job Interview Form

Education
dual diploma in 1 ____________ and Psychology

Work Experience

Location: Japan
 Private school and 2 ____________

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Previous responsibilities

 taught English lessons

 conducted 3 _____________ classes
 taught future chefs how to connect with both suppliers and 4 ____________

Current Places of Work

Sushi restaurant
working hours: 5 two ______________

Treatment centre
position: 6 a/an _______________

Listen to the rest of the conversation and answer questions 7-10.

Questions 7-10

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER
for each answer.

Reasons the candidate is suitable for the position:

● is aware of various 7___________

● knows the problems of international students such as emotional turmoil and
8____________
● speaks three languages at a/an 9_______.

Confirmation deadline: 10 ___________

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Part 2
You will hear a panel discussion on the topic of bullying. You should answer the questions as you
listen because you will hear the recording once only. Listen carefully and answer questions 11-
16.

Questions 11-16

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

11. It is essential to have_______ with kids to ensure their safety on the internet.
12. Bullying may result in anxiety, depression, addictions, and low academic performance
including ______.
13. The educators suggest incorporating a behavioural element in projects connected with ____.
14. Online communication is influenced by the absence of facial expressions and ______.
15. The way children act in different situations can be easily influenced by _______.
16. One of the ways that allows kids to take part in various life scenarios is _______ games.

Listen to the second part of the conversation and answer questions 17-20.

Questions 17-18

Which TWO THINGS are suggested by the parent to prevent children from getting bullied?

A. checking out things children post on social media sites

B. making sure kids do not share information with strangers
C. letting your children have talks with some reliable people
D. establishing rules for your children to follow at home
E. staying in contact with your kids’ school counsellor

Questions 19-20

Choose the correct answer A, B, or C from the drop-down lists under each question.

19. What do we need to keep in mind when it comes to bullying?

A. all parties involved in bullying are to blame

B. oppressors were treated badly in the past
C. the main focus should be placed on bullies

20. According to the researcher, what can be done to decrease bullying statistics?

A. identify reasons why some kids become bullies

B. create a community for the victims of bullying
C. form new behavioural guidelines for our society

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Part 3
You will hear a lecture on the topic of language-learning. First you have some time to look at
questions 21-30. Listen carefully and complete the notes in questions 21-30.

Questions 21-30

Complete the notes below.

Write no more NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Why should we learn new languages?

The Language Situation in the World

● English dominates important life spheres.

● The majority of all languages may go extinct except for 21_______.
● Such technology as 22________ of oral language is steadily improving.

Myths to Debunk

● It is the language you speak that 23_______ your ideas.

Example: The French and Spanish associate certain pieces of furniture with a/an
24________.
● A new language gives you an opportunity to acquire a different 25 ________.

Reasons to Learn a Foreign Language

#1
To understand the local culture, it is vital, at least partially, to 26_______ the local language
Example: The movie characters switch to English when they accompany their friend to a/an
27_______.

#2
To lower risks of certain conditions and to become a/an 28 __________

#3
To enjoy yourself
Examples of fun activities:
- In some languages you can ‘play’ with 29_______ to change the form of the word.
- In some languages learning 30_______ can be an exciting activity.

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Speaking Section

Time Approximately 15 minutes

Information for candidates

The Speaking section has three tasks.
The tasks must be completed sequentially.
The attached video file with instructions and exam questions will start playing automatically
as soon as you press the "Start Attempt" button.
You will be instructed to press the “Record” button to start recording your answer.
Do not stop recording unless you are asked to do so.
You can move around the panel with the "Record' button.

Rationale for the tasks

The Speaking section of the exam is aimed at assessing students’ speaking skills in English for
general academic and communication purposes.
The section starts with a series of warm-up questions that are not assessed. They enable students
to shift into an engaged and intentional frame of mind to better perform in the speaking tasks
that follow.
In Task 1 of the Speaking section, students are to share their personal experiences and talk about
the personal significance of events. Students have one minute to prepare before giving a three-
minute talk on a provided topic.
Task 2 focuses on the topics that deal with current social/academic/vocational issues. Students
are to answer four questions providing well-structured and well-developed arguments with
relevant examples. No preparation time is given. An answer to each question should be no
longer than two minutes.

Warm-up task
Now it’s time to start the warm-up task of the speaking section. You will be given a set of
questions to answer. Answer the questions as they appear on the screen. You should speak
for no longer than one minute on each question. Please note this task will not be graded.
Now press the “record” button.
Let’s talk about things you like.
1. What’s your favourite season? Why?
2. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
3. Could you describe your ideal breakfast?

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Stop the recording now. Press the “next page” button to proceed to Task 1.

Task 1
Now let’s begin Task 1 of the speaking section. In this task, you will be asked to speak about
your personal experience on a given topic. Take a minute to think and start speaking when
the countdown is on. You should speak for no longer than three minutes. Please note this
task will be graded. Now press the “record” button.

Talk about a memorable video you watched on TV or streaming services that

made an impact on you.

You have one minute to prepare.

Now your time is up. You have three minutes to talk. Please start.

Stop the recording now. Press the “next page” button to proceed to Task 2.

Task 2
Now let’s move on to Task 2. In this task, you will be asked four questions. Answer them
providing well-structured and well-developed arguments to support your ideas. You have
to speak for no longer than two minutes on each question. Please note this task will be
graded.
Now press the “record” button.
Let’s start with the first question.

Which factors determine the choice of a university programme among high school
graduates?

Now the second question.

What are the main challenges first-year university students encounter when starting their
university study?

Let’s turn to question three.

Name the three skills that every university graduate should have on completing their
university degree. Why do you consider them important?

Here is the final question.

In your opinion, why are university graduates unwilling to relocate to rural areas for work?

Stop the recording now.

This is the end of the Speaking Section.

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Mock Test 2

Reading Section

Passage 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-10, which are based on the reading passage
below.

Questions 1-6

Choose the correct headings for paragraphs (B-G) from the list of headings below. Write the
correct number, i-viii in the boxes (1-6). There are two extra headings.

List of headings
I Describing the procedure;
II Complementing former results;
III Surprising results of the study;
IV Distracting influence of the variety;
V Meeting various business needs;
VI Personal story behind the example;
VII Helping retailers attract more customers;
VIII Results received due to the technology.

One of the biggest marketing trends in the online shopping industry is personalization through
curated product recommendations; however, it can change whether people buy a product they had
been considering, according to new University of California San Diego research.

Example: Paragraph A Identifying the trends of shoppers’ behaviour

[Link] study by Uma R. Karmarkar, an assistant professor at the UC San Diego Rady School of
Management and School of Global Policy and Strategy, finds that display items that come from
the same category as the target product, such as a board game matched with other board games,
enhance the chances of a target product’s purchase. In contrast, consumers are less likely to buy
the target product if it is mismatched with products from different categories, for example, a board
game displayed with kitchen knives.

1. Paragraph B

[Link] study utilized eye-tracking - a sensor technology that makes it possible to know where a
person is looking - to examine how different types of displays influenced visual attention.
Participants in the study looked at their target product for the same amount of time when it was

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paired with similar items or with items from different categories. However, shoppers spent more
time looking at the mismatched products, even though they were only supposed to be there "for
display.”

2. Paragraph C

[Link] I asked people in the study how much they liked the target products, their preferences
didn’t change between display settings," Karmarkar said. "Unexpectedly, the findings show that
it is not about how much you like or dislike the item you’re looking at, it’s about your process of
buying the item. The surrounding display items don’t seem to change how much attention you
give the target product, but they can influence your decision whether to buy it or not."

3. Paragraph D

[Link], who holds PhDs in consumer behavior and neuroscience, says the findings suggest
that seeing similar options on the page reinforces the idea to consumers that they’re making the
right kind of decision to purchase an item that fits the category on display ."When the information
is mismatched, it changes the scope of the decision," she said. "A mismatched display is
comparable to shopping in a store with hundreds of products. You may consider a featured board
game but if you can see other products to buy, this board game may not be the first kind of
purchase you want to make. The mismatched items draw additional attention and compete with
the category you were considering."

4. Paragraph E

[Link] study, to be published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, involved 58 participants aged 18 to

40, who had to make 36 online shopping decisions for real products with real money. The findings
showing differences in purchase rates replicate a set of studies Karmarkar published in 2017. In
the new research, she was able to measure what parts of the display were engaging more or less
attention. In addition, the upcoming paper shows that matched displays increase purchase rates
even when they include more attention-grabbing information, like details about price.

5. Paragraph F

[Link] talked with industry experts about product recommendations systems, which shaped
her approach to these questions. Recommender algorithms can have different designs to meet a
variety of retailers’ respective goals. Products can be shown with "mismatched" displays when
retailers are using cross-promoting tactics based on prior customer behavior or inventory they
may want to sell more rapidly.

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6. Paragraph G

[Link] board game example which Karmarkar often uses is based on a real experience she had
while she was shopping online during the month of October. "I had been browsing games like
‘Bananagrams’ and when I reloaded the product page, a Halloween costumes display popped up,"
she said. "Given my search history, the store probably estimated I had a family. So while I’m sure
they wanted me to buy the game, they also knew they had an active shopper who might be
interested in the Halloween costumes that needed to be sold by the end of the month. It looks like
a win-win, but our work suggests that creating this mismatched situation could have lowered the
chance that I would add the game to my cart."

[Link] the study is useful for online retailers to know the benefits of showing same-category
options on a specific product page, the research is valuable to consumers as well. "This shows
how outside forces shape our decisions in ways we might not recognize," she said. "If a shopper
is looking for something specific, they are likely to concentrate their attention, regardless of
recommender displays. But when people are just ‘browsing stuff online’, different page designs
can create different patterns of attention. Store displays can change what we choose, even when
they don’t change what we like. "

Taken from: UC San Diego News

Questions 7-10
Choose the correct letter A, B or C from the drop-down list under each question.

7. Which finding emerged from the study conducted by Uma R. Karmarkar?

A. consumers are more inclined to buy a target product when it is displayed alongside
unrelated items;
B. the display of similar items to the target product increased the likelihood of purchase;
C. mismatched products have no impact on consumers' purchasing decisions.

8. What point does Karmarkar make when she compares online mismatched displays with
in-store displays?
A. the variety pushes us towards buying our target product;
B. the variety makes us doubt buying our target product;
C. the variety leads us to finding a new target product.

9. Karmakar provides an example of the Halloween costumes to:

A. show that companies know what we really want;
B. imply that our initial preference doesn’t depend on a type of the display;
C. reinforce the idea that we can get distracted from buying our target product.

10. How are the results of the research helpful to us?

A. we can become better at realizing what we like;
B. we can understand the way shopping affects us;
C. we can learn the way our choices can be altered.

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Passage 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 11-20, which are based on the reading
passage below.

That fascinating discovery happened in the Norway’s third largest city – Trondheim. The finds
surprised archaeologists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's University
Museum, who now believe they have solved a centuries-old puzzle posed in the Norse Sagas.
Archaeologists Geir Grønnesby and Ellen Grav Ellingsen found a silver button, scales, and other
artifacts during a dig in mid-Norway. After discovering those antique fragments, they realized
they had intriguing evidence of a Viking-age trading area mentioned in the Norse Sagas.

The finds came from two separate boat graves in an area in Nord-Trøndelag County called Lø, a
farm in part of Steinkjer. The archaeologists, who both work at the Norwegian University of
Science and Technology's University Museum, were there to conduct a routine investigation
required by an upgrade to Norway's main national highway. But instead of a simple highway dig,
the researchers found a potential answer to an unsolved puzzle about a mysterious Viking trading
place that is named in ancient sagas, but that has never before been located.

"These finds got us thinking about the descriptions in the Sagas that portray Steinkjer as a trading
place," the researchers wrote of their discoveries. "The Sagas say that Steinkjer, under the rule of
Eirik Jarl, was briefly even more important than Nidaros, before Olav Haraldsson re-established
it as the king's residence and trading city." Nidaros, now the modern city of Trondheim, was the
Norway's capital during Viking times, and the country's religious [Link] world's northernmost
Gothic Cathedral, Nidarosdomen, was built in Trondheim, with its first stones laid in 1070 over
the grave of Olav Haraldsson. The oldest existing parts of the cathedral date from 1183. It was
these sagas that mention a major trading place in Steinkjer. But until archaeologists started the
dig in Lø, they had few clues as to where this Viking-age commercial powerhouse might be found.

Archaeologists seeking to find a 1000-year-old trading place have precious few leads to pursue.
Almost certainly there were no permanent buildings, which would be the easiest to find, and many
items that would have been traded would be made of organic materials that might not survive the
ravages of the centuries. Apart from finding obvious clues, such as coins or metal or glass items
that were clearly from foreign lands, archeologists have to rely on much more subtle evidence
that can stand the test of [Link] such hint that a location might be a trading place is the
geography of the place itself, the researchers wrote.

"Even though there is no archaeological proof that there was a trading place in Steinkjer during
Viking times, there are several aspects that support this idea," the researchers wrote. Most
importantly, they note, Steinjker is located in a natural trading areas, at the mouth of a river at the
innermost part of Trondheim fjord. It is also in a place where farmers have been working flat
fields for centuries.

In addition, in order to locate the possible trading place the archaeologists used the detailed maps
of the locations of all kinds of different archaeological finds that might suggest trade. The logic
here is that greater numbers of traded goods are more likely to be found in close proximity to a
place of trade, with fewer traded goods found farther and farther from trading areas . So the
researchers plotted all relevant finds from Nord-Trøndelag County, and again and again, the finds
suggested a major trading area in Steinkjer.

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Beads, swords and imported jewelry help suggest that Steinkjer was home to a major trading
place, the two specific finds, in boat graves in Lø, were among the most persuasive finds. The
first were silver buttons made of braided silver threads that appear to have originated in the British
Isles, suggesting that the person in the grave had a high status. The second is a set of balance
scales found in another boat grave. The balance scales were redesigned in a way that led the
archaeologists to believe it belonged to a merchant. Scales themselves naturally suggest trade,
and when the researchers looked at all the scales found in Nord-Trøndelag, they again found a
clear concentration in the Steinkjer area.

If all of these concentrations of finds support the location of a major trading place in Steinkjer as
mentioned in the Norse sagas, then where is it? Here, the archaeologists can only make an
educated guess. Based on the fact that sea levels were four or five metres higher in this area 1000
years ago, the location of the existing church in Steinkjer is the most logical place for the trading
place to have been, the researchers say.

But confirmation of the fact that Steinkjer was a major trading area in the Viking age raises yet
another puzzle: If Steinkjer was such an important area for international trade, why did trade
eventually shift to Trondheim, as it did? Grønnesby says that the change in trading areas was
surely due to the tremendous power struggles between different rulers in the area. Nidaros along
with Levanger, another trading area, simply had more support than Steinkjer. "We see that
Steinkjer disappears in the sources in the Middle Ages while the same sources show that nearby
Levanger was a trading post," he notes. Nevertheless, determining the exact answer will require
finding more than silver buttons, scales and beads.

Taken from: Science Daily

Questions 11-16
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 2
In boxes 11-16, write

YES if the statement is true

NO if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

11. The researchers believed that the Trondheim relics would unveil the truth about the origin of
the Norse Sagas.

Your answer:

12. In sagas Steinkjer was pictured as a place of considerable significance.

Your answer:

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13. The area of Lø seemed to shed some light on the possible location of the trade zone.

Your answer:

14. The landscape was seen as an unimportant factor when it came to identifying the purpose of
the area.

Your answer:

15. After considering all the findings the researchers may name the exact location of the trading
place in Steinkjer.

Your answer:

16. The newly-found information about Steinkjer surely to unlock other mysteries.

Your answer:

Questions 17-20

Look at the list of items somehow related to the archaeological study mentioned in the text. Match
the items (A-D) with the statements (17-20).

17. the items that arrived from overseas.

Your answer: ACoins

B Detailed maps
C Silver buttons
D Balance scales

18. the items that supported the archeologists' guess.

Your answer: ACoins

B Detailed maps
C Silver buttons
D Balance scale

19. the items that gave away the occupation of the owner.

Your answer: ACoins

B Detailed maps
C Silver buttons
D Balance scales

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20. the items that indicated the social standing of a person.

Your answer: ACoins

B Detailed maps
C Silver buttons
D Balance scales

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Passage 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 21-30, which are based on the reading
passage below.

Why do humans have such large brains? This evolutionary mystery has challenged scientists for
ages, but some researchers are using genetics, specifically those genes that can only be found in
Homo sapiens, for an answer.

ARHGAP11B, a gene found only in humans, is known for its role in expanding neocortex* that
is responsible for higher cognitive functions such as language and planning . In experiments
detailed in a new study published in the journal Science, researchers inserted the gene into the
fetuses of marmosets*, who, like humans, are primates, but don’t carry the gene. The team found
that after 101 days, the neocortexes of the monkeys’ developing brains were larger and had more
folds in the tissue than normal monkey fetuses without the gene. Having more folds in this part
of the brain is important because those folds increase the surface area available for brain cells, or
neurons, without making the brain too big for the skull. Demonstrating that the human gene
fulfills a similar purpose in the brain of another primate provides new insight into how humans
may have evolved and may point the way to future treatments for brain disease.

The ARHGAP11B gene appeared about 5 million years ago, not long after the evolutionary split
between chimpanzee and human ancestors. It emerged via mutation when another gene,
ARHGAP11A, was copied, or duplicated. However, the 5-million-year-old version of
ARHGAP11B, known as the “ancestral B” version, isn’t the one that humans have today.
Scientists think another mutation of ARHGAP11B occurred in human ancestors between 1.5
million and 500,000 years ago, creating the human-specific gene the researchers used in their
latest study.

“That human-specific sequence is absolutely essential for the ability of the gene to amplify the
relevant brain stem cells in development,” says Wieland Huttner of the Max Planck Institute of
Molecular Cell Biology, one of the study’s authors.

Previous studies showed similar effects in mice and ferrets modified to have the “new B” version
of the gene. However, using those animal models meant the gene was not necessarily expressed
in the same way it is in humans. Study author Michael Heide, also of the Max Planck Institute,
says the team wanted to study a model organism closely related to humans, and the two most
practical options were the marmoset and the macaque. “We thought that the marmoset would be
the better model because the macaque neocortex has many features that it shares with our big and
folded neocortex. However, the marmoset’s is smooth and very small in size.” Thus, any changes
to the size and shape of the marmoset neocortex would be easy to see.

To introduce the gene into monkey embryos, the researchers used a “lentivirus,” a virus carrier
that cannot replicate. The lentivirus contained ARHGAP11B as well as a protein marker that
would allow the researchers to see where that gene was expressed. They included a promoter
gene, or a DNA sequence that regulates expression of specific genes.

Debra Silver, an investigator at the Duke University Institute for Brain Sciences, says the
researchers’ methods in this study, improved from those used with mice and ferrets, lend a lot of
weight to the significance of the results. “One of the challenges [for this kind of study] is that you

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can have abnormally high levels [of expression]. It's like taking a Mack truck to drive something
versus something subtler like a Toyota. The idea is, with this they're trying to get closer to what
would be normally expressed in the human brain.”

In addition, Silver says, the study demonstrated that a predominant effect of the gene, in addition
to increasing the size and number of folds in the neocortex, is controlling the production of certain
neurons that develop later and are more important for higher-order processing.

Megan Dennis, who studies the genetics of the human brain at the University of California, Davis,
MIND Institute, said this research achieved a major step by proving the effect of the gene in a
primate. “We have a whole list of genes that we think might be important in what makes us
uniquely human, but very rarely have we definitively shown that they actually are contributors,”
Dennis says. “And I have to say that a study like this really brings ARHGAP11B up to the top of
the list as a gene that could very well be important in human brain development.”

Because ARHGAP11B falls into a region of the human genome that is known to be associated
with intellectual disability, schizophrenia and epilepsy, learning more about how it functions
could also be important for understanding disease. For example, human brains that become too
large (macrocephalized) can suffer a suite of neurological and behavioral disorders, including
autism.

Understanding uniquely human genes such as ARHGAP11B also could aid in the development
of new kinds of therapies. This study’s authors suggest this gene has the potential to be useful in
growing stem cells that could help treat diseases like Parkinson’s, where clear mutations have
been identified. But the idea of using the gene or others like it to alter the essential structure and
function of the human brain raises a host of ethical concerns around both animal testing models
and genetic engineering.

“You have to be very careful,” Huttner says. “If you do genetic manipulation in humans, you can
only do it if it is to cure a disease where you have an abnormal mutation and you bring it back to
the identified normal sequence.”

*marmoset - a small monkey with a long, thick tail that lives in Central and South America.
*neocortex - a part of the brain.
Taken from: Smithsonian Magazine

Questions 21-26

Decide whether the statements below agree with the information in the text.
In boxes, choose

TRUE if the statement is true.

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information in the text.
NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this.

21. Marmosets share many identical features with humans.

Your answer:

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22. Currently the ARHGAP11B gene exists in its original form.

Your answer:

23. To get more precise results, the scientists decided to narrow down the choice of the
laboratory animal species.

Your answer:

24. One of the research goals is to see how the gene functions in human embryos.

Your answer:

25. The conducted experiment confirmed the hypothesis about the influence of the gene.

Your answer:

26. This gene prevents people from developing certain health conditions.

Your answer:

Questions 27-30

Complete the notes below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 27-30.

27. The more brain folds the monkey had, the bigger was the of the brain.

28. To boost the growth of the stem cells, a particular is crucial.

29. One of the peculiarities of the “lentivirus” is that it is not able to .

30. Gene-altering operations can exclusively be performed in case there is a/an

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Writing Section

Task 1

The chart shows how many men and women went to the cinema to watch different types of
films in the year 2018. The pie chart gives information about the age of cinemagoers.

Describe the data providing an overview of the general trends, reporting the main features, and
making comparisons.

Write at least 150 words.

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Task 2

Write an essay on the following topic:

It is believed that the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and

mathematics) are becoming more and more popular among high school and university
students. What might be the reasons for this?

In your essay, provide extended arguments supported by relevant evidence. Write at least 250
words.

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Listening Section
Part 1

You are going to hear a man and a woman talking about joining a sports club. First you have
some time to look at questions 1-4. You should answer the questions as you listen because you
will hear the recording once only. Listen carefully and answer questions 1-4.

Questions 1-4

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER
for each answer.

Possible ways to fill in the application form: via email

1 __________

Personal Details

Name: Jоhn Pаul

Surname: 2 _________

Place of Accommodation: Rооm: 42

3 __________Hall of Residence
Prebend Street
Postcode: СDЗ7GВ

Contact Information: Email: johnpaul24@[Link]

Phone number: 4 ___________

Listen to the rest of the conversation and answer questions 5-10.

Questions 5-10

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Additional Information:
 Studies in the Faculty of 5 ________;
 Not a UK resident, has a/an 6_______;

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 Plays tennis approximately at a/an 7_______;

 Does not have any 8_______;
 Has previously been a member of a/an 9________;
 After getting information about the first session, John may collect his 10_____.

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Part 2

You are going to hear two students discussing their preparation for the conference. First you
have some time to look at questions 11-15. You should answer the questions as you listen because
you will hear the recording once only. Listen carefully and answer questions 11-15.

Questions 11-15

What are the students going to do in each place in order to prepare for the presentation? Match
each place (11-15) with the activity related to the preparation process (A-G) given in the
boxes.

11. The Library

A. study the way the film industry influenced the life of the city residents;
B. examine the way the character’s personality is shown through clothes;
C. read about the way films were perceived by the audience in the past;
D. observe the way modern techniques vary from those in the past;
E. talk about the way the field of cinematography grew in the city;
F. analyze the way some previously-used equipment worked;
G. learn about the way first sound films were created.

12. The NFU Office

A. study the way the film industry influenced the life of the city residents;
B. examine the way the character’s personality is shown through clothes;
C. read about the way films were perceived by the audience in the past;
D. observe the way modern techniques vary from those in the past;
E. talk about the way the field of cinematography grew in the city;
F. analyze the way some previously-used equipment worked;
G. learn about the way first sound films were created.

13. The History Museum

A. study the way the film industry influenced the life of the city residents;
B. examine the way the character’s personality is shown through clothes;
C. read about the way films were perceived by the audience in the past;
D. observe the way modern techniques vary from those in the past;
E. talk about the way the field of cinematography grew in the city;
F. analyze the way some previously-used equipment worked;
G. learn about the way first sound films were created.

14. The City Museum

A. study the way the film industry influenced the life of the city residents;
B. examine the way the character’s personality is shown through clothes;
C. read about the way films were perceived by the audience in the past;
D. observe the way modern techniques vary from those in the past;

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E. talk about the way the field of cinematography grew in the city;
F. analyze the way some previously-used equipment worked;
G. learn about the way first sound films were created.

15. The Acting Academy

A. study the way the film industry influenced the life of the city residents;
B. examine the way the character’s personality is shown through clothes;
C. read about the way films were perceived by the audience in the past;
D. observe the way modern techniques vary from those in the past;
E. talk about the way the field of cinematography grew in the city;
F. analyze the way some previously-used equipment worked;
G. learn about the way first sound films were created.

Questions 16-20

Choose the correct answer A, B, or C from the drop-down lists under each questions.

16. What did Ben and Lucy agree on?

a. including both text and pictures in their presentation
b. creating a QR-code for the folder with the pictures;
c. handing out printed pictures across the audience.

17. Why did Ben and Lucy decide to create digital cue cards?
a. to help Ben cope with his emotions;
b. to test the app Lucy has downloaded;
c. to prepare more effectively for the exams.

18. Ben and Lucy are planning to call Lucy’s cousin to:
a. better understand what types of infographics to add;
b. help them come up with some ideas for infographics;
c. give a hand with preparing data visualization;

19. Ben is reluctant to work on the weekend because:

a. he won’t be able to finish his part;
b. he won’t be able to join the training;
c. he won’t be able to email the committee.

20. Why doesn’t Lucy want to sign up for the afternoon time slot?
a. she had an unpleasant experience before;
b. she is a fan of early wake-ups;
c. she is busy later that day.

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Part 3

You will hear a lecture about the history of social media. First you have some time to look at
questions 21-30. You should answer the questions as you listen because you will hear the
recording once only. Listen carefully and complete the notes in questions 21-30.

Questions 21-30
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

The History of Social Media

Early social media tools:

 Forums; chat rooms; tripod pages.

“Six Degrees” 1997- 2001

 adding friends;
 using the function of 21________.

“Friendster” 2002- 2015

 it was possible to see the way the users were related to each other;
 the interface of the platform resembled 22 ________.

“MySpace” 2003 – present time
 allowed users to customize their pages: quirky 23 _____ and funny GIFS.

“Facebook” 24 ________ - present time
 Zuckerberg created the platform when he was in his sophomore year.
 to get access, students from other schools had to use a/an 25______.
 was viewed as a substitution for university directories.

“Facebook” vs. “MySpace”:

 Facebook’s developers designed the interface that was easier to navigate;
 Facebook added groups and 26_________ feature;
 “MySpace” tried to bring on new features that did not work well;
 in 2009 “MySpace” fired 27_______ and is still staying afloat.
Twitter 2006 – present time
 short posts that can’t be edited;
 tweets can get to the audience instantly;
 in 2007, 28______ were introduced to Twitter users;
 people started using social networks to find out about the 29 ___.

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Conclusion:
 online communication has become an essential part of our everyday life.
 some social networks became similar: e.g. a 30_______platform LinkedIn is now
identical to Facebook.

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Speaking Section

Warm-up task
Now it’s time to start the warm-up task of the speaking section. You will be given a set of
questions to answer. Answer the questions as they appear on the screen. You should speak
for no longer than one minute on each question. Please note this task will not be graded.
Now press the “record” button.
Let’s talk about things you like.
1. What is your favourite app on your phone? Why?
2. What is the best meal you’ve ever eaten?
3. What small things brighten up your day?
Stop the recording now. Press the “next page” button to proceed to Task 1.

Task 1
Now let’s begin Task 1 of the speaking section. In this task, you will be asked to speak about
your personal experience on a given topic. Take a minute to think and start speaking when
the countdown is on. You should speak for no longer than three minutes. Please note this
task will be graded. Now press the “record” button.

Talk about a song that profoundly moved you the first time you heard it.

You have one minute to prepare.

Now your time is up. You have three minutes to talk. Please start.

Stop the recording now. Press the “next page” button to proceed to Task 2.

Task 2
Now let’s move on to Task 2. In this task, you will be asked four questions. Answer them
providing well-structured and well-developed arguments to support your ideas. You have
to speak for no longer than two minutes on each question. Please note this task will be
graded.
Now press the “record” button.
Let’s start with the first question.

What are the challenges students may come across while studying online?

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Now the second question.

Is it beneficial for students to participate in different student clubs and university events?
Why/Why not?

Let’s turn to question three.

Name the three things students should avoid doing while preparing for an important exam
or test. Why?

Here is the final question.

In your opinion, what can be done to attract more young specialists to your professional
field in the future?
Stop the recording now.
This is the end of the Speaking Section.

Independent English Exam, 2024

HSE University
School of Foreign Languages

Answer Key

Mock Test 1

Reading

Passage 1 Passage 2 Passage 3

1. viii 11. C 21. D
2. iv 12. C 22. A
3. vii 13. B 23. A
4. i 14. C 24. C
5. vi 15. A 25. B
6. ii 16. Yes 26. B
7. F 17. Yes 27. visual elements
8. T 18 No 28. insight/insights
9. NG 19. No 29. probability
10. F 20. NG 30. analytical thinkers

Listening

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

1. English [Link]/conversations/ 21. some hundreds
a conversation
2. community college 22. instant translation
12. skipping school
3. cooking/culinary 23. channels
arts/culinary 13. technology
24. a girl / feminine voice
4. customers 14. voice/ tone of voice
25. worldview/ world
5. weeknights / week nights / 15. group dynamics/ a group/ a view
week-nights group dynamics
26. control
6. therapist 16. role play/ role-play
27. anglophone hospital
7. learning styles 17. C in either order
28. multitasker /
8. homesickness 18. D in either order multitasker / better
multitasker / better
9. advanced level 19. B multi-tasker

Independent English Exam, 2024

HSE University
School of Foreign Languages

10. Friday 20. C 29. vowels

30. word order / word
orders

Mock Test 2

Reading

Passage 1 Passage 2 Passage 3

1. viii 11. NG 21. T
2. iii 12. Yes 22. F
3. iv 13. Yes 23. T
4. ii 14. No 24. NG
5. v 15. No 25. T
6. vi 16. No 26. F
7. b 17. A 27. surface area/surface
8. b 18. B 28. human-specific sequence
/ human-specific gene
9. c 19. D
29. replicate
10. c 20. C
30. abnormal mutation /
mutation / disease

Listening

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

1. over the phone 11. F 21. instant messaging
2. Thwaite 12. E 22. online dating sites/
dating sites
3. Hasleworth 13. B
23. backgrounds
4. 0911487877 14. A
24. 2004
5. medicine/ Medicine 15. D
25. email address/ email/
6. Canadian passport 16. C university email address/
7. intermediate level 17. A college email address/

Independent English Exam, 2024

HSE University
School of Foreign Languages

8. disabilities 18. C university email/ college

email
9. squash club 19. B
26. content sharing
10. membership card 20. A
27. 600 workers / six
hundred workers
28. hashtags
29. breaking news/ news
30. business networking /
business

Independent English Exam, 2024