THE TEST OF THE RETURN - 100 QUESTIONS TO EVALUATE YOUR ENGLISH

L’automne, saison des résolutions. Avant de prendre des mesures, testez votre anglais avec 4 niveaux de difficultés.

FACILE

Complétez les phrases avec le mot correct ou l’expression correcte.

1. My father always ………………………… to work by bus.

a. can go

b. goes

c. is going

d. has gone

2. My parents usually ………………………… on Saturdays.

a. work

b. works

c. do work

d. are working

3. There isn’t ………………………… cheese in the fridge.

a. no

b. some

c. any

d. little

4. She went ………………………… by taxi.

a. home

b. the home

c. at home

d. to home

5. “………………………… has she lived in London?” “For several years.”

a. How often

b. How soon

c. How long

d. How many times

6. I went to the shop ………………………… some food.

a. to buy

b. for to buy

c. for buying

d. to have bought

7. The coffee machine isn’t ………………………….

a. running

b. walking

c. working

d. going

8. Jennifer has two children and ………………………… of them are married.

a. all

b. both

c. either

d. the both

9. Are you going by bicycle or …………………………?

a. by foot

b. by feet

c. on feet

d. on foot

10. You’ll miss the train if you ………………………….

a. hurry

b. are hurrying

c. won’t hurry

d. don’t hurry

Complétez les phrases avec le contraire du mot proposé entre parenthèses.

11. The room is very …………………………. (dirty)

12. I noticed that her glass was ………………………… again. (full)

13. He was ………………………… when she got home. (awake)

14. The news made her very …………………………. (sad)

15. It was a very ………………………… film. (boring)

16. This bed is very …………………………. (soft)

17. The television is too …………………………. (quiet)

18. His wife was worried because he was getting so …………………………. (fat)

19. It’s ………………………… to swim there. (safe)

20. I don’t like this coffee, it’s much too …………………………. (weak)

Dans chaque groupe, un mot est un intrus lorsqu’on prononce sa moyenne. Lequel ?

21. say / wait / eight / head

22. you / round / group / too

23. four / fork / flour / floor

24. there / hair / heart / rare

25. seat / week / clean / break

UN PEU PLUS DUR

Choisissez le mot qui complète le mieux chaque phrase.

26. When we entered the restaurant, a waiter came across the room ………………………… us.

a. near

b. towards

c. beside

d. at

27. “Do you have a table for two?” I asked. The waiter replied: “Yes, this …………………………, please.”

a. route

b. path

c. line

d. way

28. He ………………………… us to a table by the window.

a. placed

b. arranged

c. put

d. showed

29. Then he brought us the ………………………… and the wine list.

a. card

b. menu

c. list

d. napkin

30. There was a choice between individual dishes, à la carte, and a dinner consisting of three ………………………….

a. plates

b. servings

c. courses

d. specialities

31. When we’d decided what we wanted to eat, the waiter came and took our ………………………….

a. order

b. preference

c. command

d. choice

32. He told us that there were ………………………… strawberries for dessert.

a. cold

b. new

c. fresh

d. young

33. We ordered a white wine, and asked the waiter to make sure it was ………………………….

a. fresh

b. unheated

c. chilled

d. natural

34. We enjoyed our meal: the food was well cooked and beautifully ………………………….

a. presented

b. shown

c. mounted

d. exposed

35. And we didn’t think the ………………………… was too expensive.

a. account

b. addition

c. fee

d. bill

Dans chaque groupe, un mot est un intrus par sa prononciation. Lequel ?

36. down / clown / thrown / sound

37. warm / calm / storm / worn

38. chess / death / guess / leaf

39. so / sew / though / bought

40. steel / believe / steal / still

Choisissez le mot approprié pour remplir des blancs dans le texte.

In a class-obsessed Britain, even the newspapers are divided (41) ………………………… an upper, middle and lower c1ass. At the (42) ………………………… of this pile come two newspapers, The Daily Mirror and The Sun. Their detractors call them “the press”, the lowest of the low. But (44) ………………………… the UK’s ten national daily papers, these two papers sell than all the rest put together.

Britain is a nation that loves its papers, where buying a paper or (46) ………………………… it delivered at dawn is as much a part of the morning ritual as (47) ………………………… our teeth. Here, good journalism (48) ………………………… exciting journalism. The British do not read papers simply to get a fuller version of the events that were covered on TV the night before; they want to be (49) ………………………… something new. Where the French (50) ………………………… depth of information from their papers, the British look for drama.

41. in / by / up / into

42. bottom / end / edge / ground

43. sewer / pavement / gutter / dirty

44. out of / apart from / in with / down to

45. upper / higher / superior / more

46. making / setting / having / organizing

47. brushing / washing / wiping / dusting

48. aspires / leads / forecasts / means

49. said / told / informed / communicated

50. expect / wait for / forecast / wish

ASSEZ DIFFICILE

Trouvez le mot qui convient. Un seul mot par blanc. La première lettre de chaque mot vous est donnée.

The origin of the computer

A short time ago a meeting was held at a hotel in London to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Charles Babbage (1791-1871). Babbage was a bad-tempered genius (51) w………………………… discovered the principles on (52) w………………………… the computer is based, although he did not succeed in developing it (53) h…………………………. He spent enormous sums of money (54) o………………………… his idea, trying to (55) m………………………… it work but it was impossible during the 19th century because machines (56) c………………………… not be produced to the standards he required. But it is obvious from his notes that Babbage was thinking on the (57) r………………………… lines. He realized that the machine (58) w………………………… need a memory; he understood the idea of programming the machine (59) s………………………… that it would know (60) i………………………… advance what calculation (61) t………………………… make; he saw that there would have to be a way of giving the answer in an understandable form. As he grew older Babbage’s temper got even (62) w………………………… so at the end of (63) h………………………… life he had (64) v………………………… few friends left. But the real tragedy was that he was born (65) t………………………… soon to take advantage of modem electronics.

Formez un mot, à partir de celui proposé entre parenthèses, qui convient pour chaque phrase.

66. Her creative writing certainly shows great …………………………. (original)

67. She has a ………………………… for expensive chocolate. (weak)

68. The earthquake caused ………………………… damage to the buildings. (extend)

69. The ………………………… of the plane was delayed for over four hours. (depart)

70. The little village I grew up in has changed beyond …………………………. (recognize)

71. We need his ………………………… before we can go ahead with the project. (approve)

72. Could you give me a quick ………………………… of how it works? (explain)

73. His intelligent comments showed a complete ………………………… of the situation. (understand)

74. He spends hours getting the house ………………………… clean. (spotless)

75. I’m afraid I rather ………………………… agreed to help her. (unwise)

DIFFICILE

Choisissez le mot ou l’expression, qui complète le mieux chaque phrase.

Nicole Kidman was born in Hawaii on 21 June 1967. She (76) ………………………… her early years in Washington DC, where her father was conducting (77) …………………………. When she was four, her family (78) ………………………… back to Sydney, Australia. Both her parents were left-wing (79) ………………………… and Nicole and her sister often had to (80) ………………………… political leaflets. The children had to discuss current affairs with their parents over dinner every night. Nicole didn’t always obey her parents, (81) …………………………; when her feminist mother refused to buy her a Barbie doll, the five-year-old (82) ………………………… one instead.

Nicole initially preferred dancing to acting but she showed (83) ………………………… talent when playing the role of a sheep at her kindergarten. As an adolescent, she trained (84) ………………………… in drama, dance and mime and her talents were soon recognized. Award-winning Australian director Jane Campion was impressed by one of her performances and sent her a letter of encouragement. Kidman quit high school soon after, seeing it as a (85) ………………………… from her acting. Then in 1983, she made a striking debut in Bush Christmas, which is still shown on Australian TV every December.

76. passed / employed / spent / used

77. researches / a research / searches / research

78. moved / changed / switched / transfered

79. combats / oppositions / adversaires / activists

80. hand in / hand up / hand out / hand down

81. though / besides / although / moreover

82. stole / robbed / burgled / pocketed

83. fast / early / timely / forward

84. broadly / completely / inclusively / extensively

85. distraction / prevention / harassment / derangement

Attention, voici des expressions au sens figuré. À vous de les compléter.

86. I’ve had enough and l’m going to call it a ………………………….

87. Stop beating about the ………………………… and get to the point.

88. The magazine is very popular and sells like hot ………………………….

89. A week before the wedding she got cold ………………………… and decided to call it off.

90. I never said l was in favour of the idea. She must have got the wrong end of the ………………………….

86. night / finish / day

87. bush / head / egg

88. chocolate / lava / cakes

89. throat / feet / terror

90. stick / road / candle

Utilisez le texte français pour compléter le passage en anglais. Un seul mot par blanc, la première lettre de chaque mot vous est donnée.

L’ombre du crime pèse sur la vie de Patricia Cornwell. Née à Miami, elle n’a pas cinq ans lorsqu’elle se fait agresser par un vigile, près de chez elle. Après des études à l’université de Californie, elle trouve du travail en 1979 dans un journal local, comme journaliste spécialisée dans les affaires criminelles. Mais ce qu’elle veut vraiment, c’est « élucider des crimes », et elle décide de s’essayer à la fiction.

En 1983, à la recherche d’éléments authentiques, Patricia Cornwell s’adresse au bureau du médecin légiste de Richmond, en Virginie. Elle y travaille six ans, assistant à d’innombrables autopsies. Postmortem s’inspire ainsi d’événements réels. Depuis 1990, elle a écrit onze best-sellers autour de Kay Scarpetta. Patricia Cornwell est divorcée et vit à Richmond, protégée d’armes et d’alarmes dernier cri. Visiblement, elle ne compte pas être deux fois victime d’une agression...

Patricia Cornwell’s life has been overshadowed by crime. (91) B………………………… in Miami, she was molested by a security guard near her home when she was five. After university in California, she got a (92) j………………………… in 1979 as a crime reporter on a local paper. But she “really wanted to (93) s crimes,” and decided to try her (94) h………………………… at fiction.

Looking for authentic material, in 1983 Cornwell asked the medical examiner’s (95) o………………………… in Richmond, Virginia, for help. She worked there for six years, watching (96) c………………………… autopsies. Postmortem was based on real (97) e…………………………. Since 1990, she has (98) w………………………… 11 best-selling Kay Scarpetta novels. Cornwell is divorced, and lives in Richmond, (99) p………………………… by cutting-edge intruder alarms and guns. She obviously doesn’t intend to be a (100) v………………………… twice…