Escola Bsica e Secundria de Vila Franca do Campo

English Test
2014/ 2015
10 Form Level 6
th

Mark:
Teacher:

Name:________________________ No. ____ Class: ____

Part I Reading comprehension

THE MASS MEDIA

The mass media are the means of communicating news,
information and entertainment to very large numbers of people. From
the pictoral messages, inscriptions, story-tellers and theater of
remote past, through newspapers and magazines, cinema and radio, to
the high-tech devices available today. The mass media are essential
to human society. Entertainment and the media always go hand in
hand, but their fundamental purpose is disseminating news and information and sharing
experiences, opinions and ideas. Paid for by government grants, user fees and advertisements, they
now play a vital role in marketing the goods and services produced in the global economy.
The first known example of the print medium was a newspapers printed in china in 868 A.D.,
but the blocks had to be cut by hand, the paper was expensive and the common people were mostly
illiterate, so it didnt prosper. Europe became the birthplace of true mass media, when, about 1453,
Johannes Guttenberg printed the first book using moveable type in a mechanical press.
In the 19th century compulsory education created a vast demand for reading material, and
mass-circulation newspapers printed on giant presses satisfied that demand. The phonograph and
cinema films laid the groundwork for the audio-visual media, but big advances in electronics and
eletrification were required before sound and vision could reach people in their own homes. The
first regular radio broadcast was heard in America in 1920, and the BBC World Service started in
1932. Fairly good quality television started in the UK in 1937.
Gradually in the first four decades after the Second World War, TV, first black and white,
then colour, spread around the world. The invention of the transistor made radio and TV sets
smaller, cheaper and better. The 1980s saw rapid growth of video cassetes, improved multichannel
cable TV, satellite broadcasting and CDs; The 1990s brought DVDs and the 2000s digital HDTV.
But is the Internet that has transformed the mass media. Information and entertainment is
generated through a myriad websites and can be easily and rapidly accessed via immensely
powerful search engines and high-speed broadband transmission systems. As a result, you can read
books, newspapers and magazines, play games, watch movies, listen to music, radio and TV news and
even participate in interactive programmes; you can upload and download your own music, photos
and videos and chat to family and friends; you can get what you need for your hobby, studies, job,
career and business. You can do all this on your computer, tablet or mobile phone. Consequently,
the full range of the media is now increasingly available to the masses all over the world.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history-of-mass-media.html (adapted)

A- Read the text carefully and complete the statements with the best option.
(4x4=14)
1. The first known example of a newspaper is
a) German

b) Japanese

c) British

d) Chinese

2. In 1453 Guttenberg printed

a) the first magazine

b) the first book

c) the first leaflet

d) the first card

3. From 1945 to 1994 the world witnessed

a) the first radio bradcast b) the first TV program c) the spread of TV d) the beginning of the Internet

4. 2000 marks the beginning of

a) the digital era

b) the eletronic era

c) the industrial era

d) the Internet era

B Find opposites for these words in the first paragraphs of the text. (3x4=12)
1. small _________________
2. recent _________________
3. superficial ________________
C Complete the following sentences using information from the text. (3x5=15)
1. The main purpose of the mass media ______________________________________
2. Europe is considered __________________________________________________
3. The Internet has ____________________________________________________
D- Answer the questions. (2x8=16)
1. When did printed media start to boom? Why?
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2. What has revolutionized the media in the last two decades? Point out the reasons.
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Part II Language

A - Say if the characteristics below refer to Broadsheets or Tabloids. (12x1=12)

Broadsheets

Tabloids

1. Short articles, more pictures, less in-depth reporting.

2. Puns and jokes in headlines.
3. Quality or serious press.
4. Less colour and few photos.
5. More expensive
6. More focus on human interest stories, celebrity gossip.
7. Longer articles, more detailed.
8. opinions on important events.
9. Large broadsheet format.
10. Small broadsheet format.
11. Short and dramatic articles.
12. Superficial news.
B Complete the text with the words on the right. (8x3=24)
Being a celebrity cant be fun. Everywhere you go, youre followed by

* headline

groups of (1) _______________________ asking you for interviews

* journalists

and (2) _____________________ wanting to take photos of you.

* camera crew

You come out of your house to find a (3) ___________ __________

waiting to film you just getting into your car. To members of the (4)

* editors

______________ you arent a person. You are just a means of improving

* media

the (5) __________________ of a magazine or newspaper. What the (6)

* photographers

_____________________ of these publications want is to find out

something about you that no else knows, so they can have a (7) ________
for the next days edition. Or they want you to behave badly so that

* circulation
* scoop

theyve got a good (8) _________________ for their front page.

C Complete the sentences with the articles a, an, the or zero article. (10x2=20)
1. We live in _________ technological era.
2. He lives in ________ city in ________ United Kingdom.
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3. They study in ________ college in ________ suburbs of Boston.

4. She has been talking on the phone for ________ long time.
5. ________ media spread information throughout ________ world.
6. He gave ________ conference on ________ the dangers of chat rooms.

D - Most of adverbs are formed from adjectives. Form adverbs from the adjectives
below. (10x2=20)

Adjective
Adverb
Adjective
1. Wonderful
6. Easy
2. Kind
7. Probable
3. Slow
8. Tragic
4. Nice
9. Public
5. Heavy
10. Full
E - Write the words in brackets in the correct place. (5x4=20)

Adverb

1. The children played in the afternoon. (upstairs)

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2. Andrew ate his sandwich. (quickly)
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3. The football match had started when we arrived at the stadium. (already)
_________________________________________________________________
4. My sister will go to Egypt in summer. (probably)
_________________________________________________________________
5. Peter and Sam meet every day. (here)
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Part III Writing

Choose just ONE of the following options and write 100-120 words on it. (47 points)

A Comment on the following sentence:

Young people prefer the Internet to the traditional mass media.
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B Write a newspaper story/article on these facts:

* saturday afternoon
* zoo

* a lion

* 5th October 2014

* attack

* old lady
* hungry

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Good Work!
Your English Teacher
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