ESCOLA SECUNDÁRIA DE SILVESEnglish Written Test

Name:__________________________________ Class:______ No._____

IRead the text below attentively:

An outstanding experience

My name is Francisco and I am a 21-year-old Portuguese student who recently had the wonderful

opportunity of spending a semester living in Amsterdam, in The Netherlands.

I applied for the Erasmus programme when I was in the fourth semester at the Faculdade de

Economia (Universidade Nova de Lisboa). Two months later I learnt that I had been accepted and

that I would go to Amsterdam the following year, from the end of January to the beginning of June.

The Erasmus Programme gave me the chance to continue my management degree while living in

a different culture, and it helped me to understand how difficult it can be to depend solely on

yourself in your daily routine.

The adaptation to Dutch culture was softened by the fact that everybody could speak perfect

English, and I was living with another Portuguese student in the same conditions. The building in

which we lived was pretty much filled with international students, and it even had a pub on the

ground floor which worked as a meeting place for everyone.

For people who have not done Erasmus, this might seem strange, but the truth is that no matter

how long your stay lasts, you will get along with other international students much more than with

native students. The simple reason for this is that they are in the same situation as you, and just

like you, everything is new for them.

Instead of discovering just one new culture, you end up discovering plenty of them, one for each

student you meet - at least that was what happened to me.

The school which I attended (HES - Hogeschool voor Economische Studies) was state of the art; a

really impressive building, which had been finished two years before, right next to the Amsterdam

Arena. I found the lectures there quite different from the ones in Portugal - much more practical

and therefore much more interesting. I also noticed that professors do not give much importance to

final exams; rather, they put more emphasis on weekly assignments. International Advertising was

my favourite subject because it is related to what I want to do in the future.

A great advantage of moving to Amsterdam is that you are somehow in the middle of Europe,

which makes it much easier and cheaper to travel to other countries. I ended up backpacking to

England, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Croatia, sometimes with other students, at other

times on my own, but no matter what, I always managed to meet a lot of people and have a terrific

time.

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I

A. Complete the table with information from the text.

Name: Host Institution:

Age: Country:

University Degree: Duration:

Place:

EU Programme:

B. Say whether the following statements are True or False according to the text. Correct the false ones with a sentence from the text.

1. Francisco applied for the Erasmus programme and two months later he left for Amsterdam.

2. His everyday life in Amsterdam wasn’t different from the one he had at home.

3. The place where he stayed was full of students from different countries.

4. An Erasmus student normally gets together with local students.

5. Portuguese professors give a lot of importance to final exams.

C. Find synonyms for the following words in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5:

1. possibility

2. only

3. made easier

4. crowded

5. local

D. Answer the following questions using your own words as far as possible.

1. What were Francisco’s impressions of the Dutch school?

2. How did he adapt to the local culture?

3. Why does he consider Amsterdam’s location to be an advantage?

A – Match the following sentences with the type of situation expressed by the different tenses. (Match the numbers with the letters in the table below.)

1. The Sun rises in the East. a) A future action/ situation related to a programme or timetable.

2. We are having a test next week. b) A universal truth

3. English is the most international language. c) Routines / habits.

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4. I usually get up at 7.00 am. d) An action happening at the time of speaking.

5. The concert starts at 10 pm. e) A situation/ action happening around now.

6. He’s learning English. f) A permanent action/ situation.

7. It is raining a lot now. g) A future action/ situation previously arranged.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

B – Choose the correct form of the verbs to complete each sentence.

1. I ______ to the radio every day.

a) listens b) am listening c) listen

2. How ______ to school?

a) you go b) do you usually go c) did you go

3. He ______ in the computer at the moment.

a) are working b) isn’t working c) works

4. We ______ our next summer holidays on the beach.

a) are spending b) spend c) spent

5. ______ your mail yesterday?

a) you check b) did you check c) are you checking

6. The children ______ . Don’t wake them up.

a) sleep b) slept c) are sleeping

7. Grace ______ a nice car last month.

a) bought b) is buying c) buys

8. We ______ very often. It’s too expensive.

a) don’t eat out b) didn’t eat out c) are eating out

9. Mark ______ in London now. He is in France on an Erasmus programme.

a) isn’t living b) isn’t leaving c) doesn’t live

10. Good students always ______ hard.

a) are working b) work c) works

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III

Write a composition (100-120 words) on ONE of the topics below:

A. In the text you have read, a boy talks about his year as an Erasmus student. Would you like

to study and/or work abroad? Where? Why?

B. What ways of improving your English skills do you know? Which do you put into practice

more often? Tell us about it.

COTAÇÃO

I

A 8 x 2 ......................................................................................... ................................ 16

B 5 x 5 ......................................................................................................................... 25

C 5 x 3 ......................................................................................................................... 15

D 3 x 6 ......................................................................................................................... 18

II

A 7 x 3 ......................................................................................................................... 21

B 10x 3 ......................................................................................................................... 30

C 8 x 3 ......................................................................................................................... 24

III ..................................................................................................................................... 51

Total 200

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