Reading and
Writing 2
Final Test
Name: ______________________________________ Date: _____________
I. Reading Comprehension
A. Read the article about your health. Then read the questions. Choose A, B, or C.
1 Have you ever heard the saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”? It is one of the most famous
proverbs in the English language. It promises that eating an apple every day will keep you from getting
sick. It would be wonderful if that were true, but, of course, it is not. Apples are good for you, yes, but
you can live a healthy life without apples in your diet. There is only one thing that is truly essential, only
one thing we cannot live without eating or drinking, and that is water.
2 We need water for many reasons, but basically, we have to keep up a healthy amount of H2O in our
bodies. Your adult body is about 60 percent water. When you were born, you were about 78 percent
water. Water makes up about 73 percent of your heart and your brain, and even your bones are watery
(but only 31 percent).
3 The amount of water we need to drink varies. It is different for men and women, and it also depends
on your age and where you live. On average, a man needs about 3.2 quarts (about 3 liters) of water a
day, and a woman needs about 2.3 quarts (about 2.2 liters). Does that seem like a lot to you? You can
get some of it from your food, so it does not all have to come from drinking water. But it is a good idea
to get in the habit of drinking water, and you should not wait until you are thirsty. By the time you feel
thirsty, you are already dehydrated1, and it is best to avoid that.
4 What does all that water do for us? Here are just a few of its functions.
5 • Water helps your joints work smoothly. Joints let us bend and move at the 360 places in
the body where bones come together. Your knees, for example, are the joints that let you bend
your legs. Each joint has cartilage2 between the bones, protecting them from each other, and
cartilage is 80 percent water.
6 • Water helps the oxygen from the air you breathe travel to all the parts of your body. It is
your blood that carries the oxygen, and blood is more than 90 percent water. If you get
dehydrated, then your blood becomes thicker, and that increases your blood pressure, which is
not healthy.
7 • Water helps your body stay at the right temperature. When our bodies get hot, water
stored in the skin comes out as sweat. As the sweat evaporates3 into the air, it cools us down.
8 • Remember that about 73 percent of your brain is water. From that, you can guess that
water plays an important part in how the brain works. If someone is dehydrated for too long,
that will lead to problems with thinking.
9 The list does not end there! There are many more ways that our bodies depend on water, both so that
they work well and so that we look our best. (Yes, water is a beauty treatment, too—it does good things
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Reading and
Writing 2
Final Test
for your skin.) For all these reasons, when you think about how to stay healthy, do not forget that water
is your friend.
1
dehydrated: having lost too much water from your body
2
cartilage: strong white tissue that can bend and is especially important in joints to prevent the bones
rubbing against each other
3
evaporate: if a liquid evaporates, it changes into a gas, especially steam
1. What does the author believe about eating an apple a day?
A. It’s how the author stays healthy.
B. It’s something we all should do.
C. It’s a fine idea but unnecessary.
2. How much of your body is water?
A. about 31%
B. about 60%
C. about 73%
3. What does the author recommend about how much water to drink in a day?
A. You should have at least three quarts.
B. You should consider several factors.
C. You should drink when you’re thirsty.
4. What is the author’s purpose?
A. to make the reader laugh
B. to inform the reader
C. to express an opinion
5. Which of the following would be the best title for the reading passage?
A. An Apple a Day
B. Our Amazing Bodies
C. A Key to Good Health
B. Match each sentence beginning with the correct ending.
6. ____ Water helps keep your body . . .
7. ____ Water helps your blood carry oxygen . . .
8. ____ You can bend your arms because of water . . .
9. ____ You get dehydrated from a lack of water . . .
10. ____ You look better with the right amount of water . . .
a. in your body.
b. in your blood.
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Reading and
Writing 2
Final Test
c. in your skin.
d. in your joints.
e. from your blood pressure.
f. from getting too hot.
g. to all the different areas of your body.
II. Reading Skills: Identifying Claims and Support for Claims; Identifying the
Author’s Purpose
A. Match each claim with the support given in the reading in Section I. Write the letter of the
support. Choose g (No support), if the claim is not supported in the text.
11. The amount of water we need to drink varies. (Paragraph 3) ____
12. How much water you need depends on where you live. (Paragraph 3) ____
13. You should drink water before you feel the need to. (Paragraph 3) ____
14. Drinking water is good for your blood. (Paragraph 6) ____
15. You need water for your joints. (Paragraph 5) ____
16. Water is important for the brain. (Paragraph 8) ____
a. Cartilage is 80 percent water
b. It can get too thick if you don’t drink enough.
c. Water evaporates through our skin in the form of sweat.
d. The average man needs about three liters and the average woman about two.
e. Being thirsty is a sign that you are dehydrated.
f. It is 73 percent water.
g. No support
B. Match each title with the author’s purpose.
17. “The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” ____
18. “How to Pack Your Clothes for Travel” ____
19. “My Most Embarrassing Memories of High School” ____
20. “Every Student Should Take a Gap Year Before College” ____
a. to make someone laugh
b. to explain a specific process
c. to express a personal opinion
d. to give information
e. to tell the reader a story
III. Vocabulary
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Reading and
Writing 2
Final Test
A. Match each word with the correct definition.
21. automatically ____ a. very
22. contaminated ____ b. after a long time
23. eventually ____ c. to give a disease to someone
24. frustrated ____ d. to be all around somebody or something
25. infect ____ e. containing something dirty, harmful, or dangerous
26. surround ____ f. having a link between two things
g. to become bigger, or make something become bigger
h. done in a way (like a machine) that does not require human control
i. angry or impatient because you cannot do or achieve what you want
to do
B. Complete the sentences with the correct word from the word bank.
attitude challenge concept expand respond skip
source treat
27. He was so focused on his phone that when I asked him a question, he didn’t ____________.
28. Hundreds of people with the disease were brought to the hospital so
doctors could ____________ them.
29. Establishing a business is always a big ____________, so you’ll need a good business plan.
30. The company has restaurants in three cities now but will ____________ this year to another five.
31. Unfortunately, many people don’t have a good ____________ of clean water, so they get sick.
32. When our professor first explained the ____________, the idea was really hard to understand, but in
time, we got it.
IV. Vocabulary Skill: Understanding grammatical information in a dictionary;
Identifying the correct meaning of a word in the dictionary; Using collocations
A. Read the dictionary entry for freeze. Then write your answers to the questions.
freeze verb
BrE /friːz/; NAmE /friːz/
past simple: froze; past participle: frozen
1 [intransitive, transitive] to become or make hard, often turn to ice, as a result of extreme cold:
Water freezes at 0° C.
2 [intransitive] if a pipe, lock, or machine freezes (up), it becomes blocked with frozen liquid so it
cannot be used:
Put antifreeze in your car radiator to keep it from freezing up.
3 [intransitive] when it freezes, the weather is at or below 0° C:
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Reading and
Writing 2
Final Test
Farmers are worried it’ll freeze tonight.
4 [intransitive, transitive] to be very cold; to be so cold that you die:
Don’t go out without a coat—you’ll freeze!
5 [intransitive] to stop moving suddenly because of fear, etc.:
The smile froze on her lips.
6 [intransitive] when a computer screen freezes, you cannot move any of the images, etc. on it
because there is a problem with the system
freeze somebody out (of something) (informal) to be deliberately unfriendly to somebody, creating
difficulties, etc., in order to stop them from doing something or from taking part in something
33.________ What is the simple past form of the verb?
34. ________ Which meaning does freeze have in this sentence? (Write the number.)
My laptop screen has frozen—what should I do?
35. ________ Which meaning does freeze have in this sentence? (Write the number.)
The police officer shouted, “Freeze!”
36. ________Which meaning does freeze have in this sentence? (Write the number.)
Every time she opens the window, we all freeze.
37. ________What word is missing from this sentence? They’re all freezing me _____ of the decision-
making.
38. ________What word is missing from this sentence? I worry that the pipes will freeze _____.
B. Complete the sentences with the correct preposition from the word bank.
at in of on to
39. When a company can get people talking about a product, that buzz will contribute ____ the
product’s popularity.
40. He had little to say to his new roommate because they had little ____ common.
41. Some employees disliked the idea; others were in favor ____ it.
42. The TV talk show host always begins the show by commenting ____ the news of the day.
V. Writing Skills: Using Transition Words to Connect Ideas
Complete the paragraphs with words from the word banks. Use capital letters as needed.
as soon as before first for example in addition while
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Reading and
Writing 2
Final Test
Sleep research has shown how sleep affects learning. (43) ____________, one study showed how sleep
helped college students perform better on a test. The study involved 102 students who had never
studied economics. (44) ____________, the students were divided into four groups. One group watched
an economics lecture and took a test on it (45) ____________ they finished. The second group watched
the lecture but did not take the test right away. A whole week passed (46) _____________ they took it.
after before definitely second then when
The most interesting results came from the third and fourth groups. The group 3 students watched the
lecture in the morning. (47) ____________ they took the test that evening (12 hours later). The group 4
students watched the lecture in the evening and took the test the next morning (also 12 hours later), so
they were able to sleep (48) ____________ they watched the lecture. The researchers then compared
this “sleep group” to the other “12-hour group.” They say that, based on how students performed on
the test, the study showed two benefits of sleep. First, the students could remember more information
when they got a good night’s sleep (49) ____________ they took the test. (50) ____________, students
could better understand and apply the information.
VI. Grammar
Correct the error in each sentence.
51. I was more lucky than he was.
52. The Eiffel Tower is one of most famous buildings in the world.
53. It’s the worse movie I have ever seen!
54. Turn off your phone when you study for avoiding interruptions.
55. Drink enough water so to keep from getting dehydrated.
56. Of course, everyone wants in order to stay healthy.
57. Your text message came while I studied.
58. They got off the plane, were finding their bags at Baggage Claim, and took a taxi to their hotel.
59. The morning was cloudy, but when we were having lunch in the park, the sun was suddenly coming
out.
60. That was a real generous thing for them to do.
61. Everyone on the team worked hardly to make the project a success.
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Reading and
Writing 2
Final Test
62. She manages very well the family business.
VII. Writing
Write a paragraph to explain things you can do to stay healthy.
Write a paragraph of 80 to 120 words. Begin with a good topic sentence and follow it with strong
supporting sentences. Use transition words to help keep your paragraph unified. End with a clear
conclusion.
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