Aviation English - ESL Assessment

The first section of this test is LISTENING. You may listen only once. There are 2 parts in the listening section. Instructions will be given for each part.

 

*IMPORTANT* DO NOT PAUSE OR STOP THE AUDIO. You must listen from beginning to end with no stopping. There will be time to answer questions.

 

Press PLAY and read the instructions. Go DOWN to see all questions. There will be time to answer each question.

 

PART 1

 

In this part of the test, you will hear questions and statements. After each question or statement is played, choose the best response from the choices printed here and mark your answer.

 

There are 10 questions in Part 1. The questions and statements will not be repeated. Please listen carefully.

 

PART 2

 

In this part of the test you will hear short conversations between two people. After each conversation is played, you will hear a question about it. Choose the best answer to the question from the choices given in this test and mark your answer on this test.

 

There are 15 questions in Part 2. The converstaions and questions will not be repeated. Please listen carefully.

In this

 

 

 

William would take an evening class if he didn't live so far from school.

 

Although Sally apologized for showing up late to work, her boss did not appear to let it go easily and insisted she make up the time.

 

The students were all given a study guide by their instructors to help prepare them for their final exam.

 

Maria is often required to perform tasks for which she is ill-equipped, as her team is understaffed and overworked.

 

The football team lost their last game which, when considering their numerous victories throughout the rest of the year, came as quite a shock.

 

 

According to scientific research, when bees become ill, they tend to have problems with their memories. "And that can be fatal," says Dr. Harry Lewis, lead author of a study published in the well-known journal Popular Ecology.

 

"Bees rely on their memories to find food. When a bee finds a food source, it goes back to the hive, where it lives, and tells the other bees how to find it. It does this by performing a series of dances that reveal the distance and direction to the source. If a sick bee can't remember where it was, then it can't accurately communicate to the others where to look for food," explained Dr. Lewis.

 

All across the United States, bees have been dying off in large numbers. Most of the deaths can be attributed to bacteria, viruses, and other insects, which kill the bees directly. However, "perhaps the inability of the sickened bees to help others find food also contriute to the decline of the bee population," said Dr. Lewis.

In the third sentence of paragraph 2, what does the word source refer to?

 

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is a form of public transportation that has long been proposed as a solution to the transportation problems that affect many cities. The basic idea of PRT is to create a type of car for public use. Passengers would travel in small, driverless vehicles on a network of tracks, which are called guideways. These electric vehicles would be available on demand, like taxis, transporting small groups of people to different destinations.

 

Supporters of PRT claim three major advantages of the system. The benefit that first attracted attention to PRT is its environmental friendliness. The system runs on electricity, and experts estimate that each car would use only a fraction of the energy required by a regular motor vehicle. The second benefit is the on-demand nature of the system; there is little to no waiting for cars to arrive. Finally, some people believe that PRT systems can create new jobs. If PRT were to take off in just a few cities, it could be a major job creator for companies with advanced engineering capabilities.

 

Critics, however, question whether PRT systems are practical. Small PRT vehicles are most suitable for situations in which there ware relatively few passengers going to each destination. But PRT guideways are complicated and expensive to build. Economically, they would make sense only for heavily traveled routes. Yet for routes within cities, where passenger volume would be high enough to cover the cost of building the guideways, the small cars would not be large enough to carry many people. Outside of city centers, construction of PRT systems would not be cost-effective due to the number of guideways that would be needed. These are serious problems that need to be solved if PRT systems are to be a realistic public transport option.