I. Vocabulary test
Put in the missing words! Have a look at the context to find the correct word!

1. Two years ago I [hint: to get, to be sent] a brochure that changed my life.
2. I had been working as a [hint: someone who knows how to repair a car] in a garage and I was with [hint: not to be able to think of something else] repairing old cars.
3. Sometimes repairing an old car was a real [hint: something that is difficult to do].

4. The brochure was from an organisation that wanted to make the public [hint: people, everybody] [hint: see] of the bad effects caused by tanker accidents.

5. After reading the brochure I knew that the risk of [hint: not swim] is [hint: there is a link to this risk] to the age of a tanker.
6. Now I have joined this [hint: action] which wants to nature against attacks by the multinational oil industry.

II. Grammar Exercises

1. Singular or plural? (Be cautious! You need not fill in all of the blank spaces! Put in "X" where forms need not be changed)

An IKEA store will soon open in our neighbourhood. This (be) good news. So far we have always had to travel 60 miles to the nearest store to buy a chair or a table. 60 miles (be) a long drive, of course. The furniture you can get at the IKEA store (be) of a good quality, but you will have to put everything together yourself. The information you get on a piece of paper (be) normally very good now, but in the past people had a lot of problems. Often they had to ask for advice. As everything comes in cartons you will never have a problem with stairs, which sometimes (be) very steep. The last time we were at the store we just bought one furniture, but my Mum got herself one super sunglasses there.


2. Mixed bag: Get the forms and tenses right!


From an interview with a famous rock star


Q: the style of your music (change) over the years?
A: I (not, think) so.
Q: (you, play) more country music on your next album?
A: No. To make it clear, my last album, Along the Highway, (not, can, see) as a country album, although it (influence) by the Nashville style.
Q: Which of your songs (you, like) so much that (you, transfer) it to your iPod?
A: If (there, be) just one song, I (choose) between “Instant Fire” and “Somewhere Between Dead and Alive”.
Q: What is the coolest thing that you (learn) from (be) an actor?
A: (stay) calm. There’s no point (complain) when an acting coach (make) you pay for 10 lessons in advance, but then (let) you sit on the stairs and wait until it’s your hour.
Q: (you, manage) (balance) your family life with your career?
A: It’s not always easy. I (spend) last week in New York, Venezuela, Tobago, Wisconsin and Wyoming. At the end of that week I (come) back at 4 in the morning. First I (consider) (take) my son to the doctor later that day, but then I (not, can, avoid) (oversleep) and my wife had to go. Three weeks ago I (take) another kid to another doctor. The day after that I (to look forward) to (play) my usual role of a rock star again.
Q: Do you feel like (give) a concert in your home state of Rhode Island?
A: No. I prefer (perform) in other places of the world to a concert in Rhode Island because every aunt and uncle that you don’t even see at Christmas (be) very keen on (come) to your concert. [Smiles]
Q: Thank you for the interview!