Money & shopping - Practice 1.

LISTENING In this section you will hear an interview with an American man who won a lot of money on the lottery. Your task is to decide whether the following statements are true, false or we do not know because the text does not say, and write the appropriate letter in the boxes on the right.First, you will have some time to look at the task, and then we will play the whole recording in one piece. Then, after a short pause, you will hear the recording again, but this time we will play the text in shorter sections to give you enough time to write down your answers. 1. Brad won a net amount of $85 million on the lottery in 2007. true false the text does not say 2. His numbering system was based on the 15 numbers that had come up the least frequently over the previous six months. true false the text does not say 3. It wasn't the first time he had won money on the lottery. true false the text does not say 4. Most jackpot winners spend their money on luxury items. true false the text does not say 5. His goal was to become a billionaire. true false the text does not say 6. He didn't listen to anybody's advice on what he should do with the money. true false the text does not say 7. He has made a profit of $130 million since he won the jackpot. true false the text does not say 8. He took 17 of his friends on a trip to Tahiti. true false the text does not say 9. He has just bought a new house. true false the text does not say 10. He has at least 17 bicycles. true false the text does not say 11. He owns two VW Jetta cars. true false the text does not say 12. He has no time to teach in his old fitness centre any more. true false the text does not say 13. He has made a lot of new friends recently. true false the text does not say READINGRead this article on the Queen of England’s finances. Some words have been left out from the text. Your task is to fill the gaps with expressions from the list. QUEEN ASKS FOR EXTRA £1M TO REPAIR DECREPIT PALACESPieces falling off historic buildingsThe Queen is seeking an extra £1 million of (1) taxpayers’ money to save her crumbling palaces.Matters came to a head this year when a lump of stone (2) the size of a shoebox fell from a Buckingham Palace façade and narrowly missed the Princess Royal’s parked car. Another piece fell off as guests arrived for a Palace reception for the scientific community.At Windsor Castle an area of lead roof the size of the Wimbledon Centre Court and Court No.1 (3) combined is in pressing need of renewal; at Buckingham Palace two thirds of the roof is at least 120 years old, and cannot go on indefinitely with make-do patching.Sir Alan Reid, the accountant (4) in charge of the Queen’s money, said the annual government grant for the maintenance of the royal palaces had been frozen at £15 million in 1991 and had since declined (5) in value by more than two thirds in real terms.“We are seriously behind schedule (6) in maintenance projects, and if our historic buildings are to remain safe it is essential that the grant is increased by £1 million a year,” Sir Alan said.Royal officials fear that unless they can keep up a rolling programme of repairs and replacement, (7) essential work will eventually become hideously expensive. They also fear that the enormous amount of construction work involved in building London’s Olympic facilities will lead to hugely (8) increased costs for other customers seeking skilled tradesmen.A Palace property manager, standing in the Quadrangle and gesturing at the crumbling east façade and the three other sides in dire need of cleaning, said: “There are bound to be a lot of receptions here during the Olympics; it would be nice if visitors from around the world found such a famous building (9) in good repair.”Overall, this year the monarchy cost the taxpayer £37.3 million, marginally less than last year. Sir Alan described it as less than the cost of two (10) 1st-class stamps for every man, woman and child in the country.The figure infuriates anti-monarchists, who point out that it ignores the huge (11) security bill, estimated to be at least £100 million a year but never disclosed in official figures. USE OF ENGLISH You are going to read an article about the plans for a new $10 bill. Some words are missing from the text. Choose the most appropriate answer from the options (A-D) for each gap in the text.A WOMAN ON THE $10 BILLIn June, 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that the next $10 bill will feature a woman who (1) _ a major role in American history. The new bill is expected (2) _ released in 2020. That year marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, (3) _ gave women the right to vote.(4) _ the new note will feature a woman, Alexander Hamilton – who is on the present $10 bill – won't be completely replaced. That could mean the new design will feature a picture of Hamilton and a woman (or women). Hamilton was one of the country’s Founding Fathers.He was among the signers of the U.S. Constitution. The Treasury Department has not decided which woman will be on the $10. First, it is asking the public to share (5) _ opinion at thenew10.treasury.gov.There are rules about who can be featured on money. By law, no living person may appear on a bill, and George Washington (6) _ always remain on the $1. His wife, Martha Washington, was the last woman to appear on U.S. currency; her portrait was on the $1 silver certificate from 1891 to 1896. After public comments (7) _ , the Treasury Department will make the final decision on what the bill will (8) _ and who will be featured. The bill will have new security features to (9) _ harder to counterfeit. It will also be easier for the blind and visually impaired to handle. 1 made did played gave 2 being to have having to be 3 which this was that 4 while despite however, since 5 it's his its theirs 6 need must would has to 7 had been considered will be considered would be considered have been considered 8 look look like like be alike 9 make it make make them make one