skills test 4a Units 7&8

Name: .......................................................................................................................................................

Reading
1 Read the text. Match the sentences a–f to the
The history of advertising
gaps 1–5. There is one extra sentence. These days adverts are everywhere. 1 ______ It’s
hard to imagine a world without advertising but
a Early adverts in newspapers usually promoted when did advertising begin?
books, newspapers and medicine.
Most people imagine advertising started with
b Therefore, shopkeepers used images – a boot
the arrival of the mass media in the twentieth
for a shoe shop, a book for a book shop and so
century. 2 ______ Adverts painted on walls or rocks
on – to advertise themselves. have existed for thousands of years – examples
c This type of advertising is new and exciting have been found in India dating back to 4000 BC.
and makes people want to buy the product or In fact, this form of advertising is still used today
idea. in many parts of Asia, Africa and South America.
d They’re on TV and the radio, in newspapers A little later, the Ancient Egyptians used papyrus*
and magazines, online and even in films. to make sales posters and lost-and-found adverts
on papyrus were common in Ancient Greece and
e The trend is towards making advertising more
Ancient Rome.
and more personal, targeting the individual
rather than a group. During the Middle Ages, most people couldn’t
f However, it began much, much earlier than read. 3 ______ These images are similar to logos
that. used today, except that today logos are used
/5 to identify a particular brand rather than a type
of shop. Fruit and vegetables were sold in the
2 Read the text again. Tick (✔) true, cross (✗) false town square and the sellers used town criers to
or write (?) if there is no information. announce their goods. These town criers were
people who walked about and shouted loudly
1 The Ancient Egyptians used advertising telling people what was available.
a lot.
2 You can find adverts painted on walls However, it was after the first newspapers
nowadays in some parts of the world. appeared in the seventeenth century that
advertising really began as a business. 4 ______
3 In the Middle Ages people selling food
Then in 1836 a French newspaper included paid
didn’t have the means to advertise. advertising for the first time – anyone could pay
4 The first newspapers were printed in and advertise any product. Other newspapers
France. quickly copied the idea. As a result of the increased
5 The writer doesn’t think there will be demand for adverts, the first advertising agencies
adverts of any kind in the future. began. The first opened in 1869 in Philadelphia in
the US. Today there are over 50,000 advertising
/5 agencies in America alone!

In the twentieth century, the invention of television

had a huge impact on advertising. By the 1960s
advertising had become much more creative and
the idea of the slogan was born. Not long after, the
jingle followed. Since then, advertising has become
much more sophisticated. Advertisers use a variety
of techniques to get people to remember their
products. Advertising campaigns are usually aimed
at a target audience. 5 ______ For example, we
now get adverts in response to online searches,
we receive adverts on our mobile phones and so
on. Perhaps in the future all advertising will be
individual or perhaps it will change completely. One
thing is certain: we can be sure that advertising
will continue to exist.
* papyrus = an early form of paper made from plants

38 PHOTOCOPIABLE © Pearson Education Limited 2011

Listening Communication
3 5 Listen to a radio programme about the 5 Complete the speech with one word in each
effects of multi-tasking. Choose the correct gap.
answer.
I’d like to 1 ____________ by saying that
1 Professor Roberts says that when we only do advertising can be very persuasive.
one thing at a time, 2
____________ are we so often persuaded
a we’re wasting time. by adverts? Well, advertisers use certain
psychological tricks. The 3 ____________ thing
b we don’t feel right.
is to be aware of the tricks. 4 ____________ me
c the brain gets lazy. give you an example. You see an advert where
2 The brain beautiful, rich, successful people use a product.
a cannot actually do more than one thing at a The message is: If you use this product, you’ll
time. be like these people, so you buy it. Let me leave
b can do two or three things simultaneously you with this final 5 ____________ : when you go
but not more. shopping, don’t think about the adverts; think if
you really need the product.
c benefits from doing two things together
but not more. /5
3 Research has shown that multi-tasking makes 6 Choose the best response for each statement.
the brain
1 ‘I think teenagers spend too much.’
a develop more quickly.
a ‘Why do you spend so much?’
b slower.
b ‘Why do you say that?’
c faster.
2 ‘Shopping online is a good thing.’
4 Average IQ (intelligence quotient) is
a ‘I don’t like shopping much.’
a about 90–110.
b ‘I don’t know about that.’
b about 110–120.
3 ‘I think there are too many adverts …’
c about 120–130.
a ‘Just a minute! There are fewer than there
5 Which of these is true about the effect of
used to be.’
multi-tasking on children?
b ‘Do you think adverts are a good thing?’
a They become more creative and artistic.

Units 7&8
4 ‘I’m in debt.’
b They become more analytical.
a ‘Perhaps you should talk to your bank
c They can find it difficult to be empathetic.
manager.’
/5 b ‘Absolutely! I totally agree.’
4 5Listen again. Complete the sentences with 5 ‘People should be given medical treatment
one word, two words or a number in each gap. even if they haven’t looked after their health.’
1 For many years people believed that multi- a ‘I totally agree.’
tasking was ____________ for the brain. b ‘Why do people need treatment?’
2 Einstein’s IQ is thought to have been about /5
____________ .
3 Multi-tasking has a negative ____________ on
people.
4 When we do only one thing, it is easier for
the brain to store and ____________ new
information.
5 Professor Roberts says that children should
skills test 4a

not do their homework at the same time as

they ____________ .
/5 Marks
Reading /10 marks
Listening /10 marks
Communication /10 marks
Total: /30 marks

© Pearson Education Limited 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE 39