Choose the best one (A, B, C or D) to complete the sentence or replace the underlined word.

Maybe the robot was the best _______ of the 20th century.

Complete the sentences with correct form of words in the brackets.

The new _______ for the new generation of cars will come from the robotics: robocars will be cars that drive themselves. (INSPIRE)

Listen to an interview about a competition for young inventors. Are the sentences TRUE or FALSE? Question 33 to 36.

Children aged 8–13 years old can enter the competition this year. 

Choose the word or phrase that is CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word.

What we are planning is cutting-edge technology that has never been seen in Australia before.

Read the following passage. For each of the questions, Decide the statement is TRUE or FALSE.

INVENTOR’S CIRCLE

With the progression of technology and the development of existing inventions, it is becoming more difficult for inventors to make money. It feels like people are running out of new ideas. However, there is hope! While becoming a successful inventor is increasingly more difficult, the community of inventors is growing, helping each other to reach their goals.

What makes the inventors’ community so strong? Well, the main reason that people choose to become an inventor is to help others or to make the world a better place to live. With such a goal, why wouldn’t they want to help each other? Inventors often work together, create their own businesses and give opportunities to those in need.

Social media such as Facebook and YouTube have also helped the inventors’ community. They have made it easier for inventors from across the globe to speak with each other and learn from each other through videos. Now that the internet is growing rapidly, there is endless information for inventors aspiring to get what they need.                              

Still, becoming an inventor is not getting easier with all this extra information. There is more competition, there are more people wanting to make the world better, to make people’s lives easier. This is because they now have all the information they need to make their dreams come true. On the plus side, with all the information and support, it has become easier for anyone to try. So, what’s stopping you? Start inventing!

It used to be easier for inventors to make money.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

In my opinion, the computer is the greatest machine __________ has ever been invented.

Choose the best one (A, B, C or D) to complete the sentence or replace the underlined word.

My brother writes applications for computers or smartphones – he’s a(n) _______ .

Choose the best answer.

Since the appearance of electronic devices, lessons have become more and more _____ and effective.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

In bygone days, computers were huge and not __________. They couldn’t be carried around.

Choose the best answer.

What do you think could be the negative effects of __________ computers? 

Read the text and answer the questions. Answer full sentence.

INVENTIONS THE WORLD FORGOT

The Telharmonium

The Telharmonium was the world's first electronic musical instrument. It was designed by Thaddeus Cahill in 1897. Music from the instrument was broadcast to people's homes using a telephone. Before the invention of the radio, people loved these first home concerts. After Cahill's death in 1934, his brother kept one of the three models, but in 1962 it was destroyed. No recordings of the music were kept, so the Telharmonium and its unique sound have disappeared forever.

The Writing Ball

Invented in 1865 by Rasmus Malling-Hansen from Denmark, the Writing Ball was a machine for typing onto paper. Its use of electricity made the movement faster. However, you could not see the paper as you were typing. Nevertheless, the Writing Ball was very successful. Since each model was made by hand, it was soon

replaced by other cheaper machines produced in factories. A new keyboard with a different key arrangement appeared. The once-popular Writing Ball was forgotten.

The Antikythera Mechanism

In 1901, parts of an ancient machine were discovered on a ship near the Greek island of Antikythera. It had been made about 1,900 years earlier, in 2 BCE. For many years after its discovery, nobody understood exactly what the machine was for. In the 1970s, scientists found that this ancient computer had been designed to predict the movements of the sun, the moon and the planets. It did this using more than thirty hand-made metal wheels of different sizes. The remains of the Antikythera mechanism are now kept at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, together with a number of reconstructions to demonstrate how it may have worked.

What was the name of world's first electronic musical instrument?

Choose the word or phrase that is CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word.

Tickets are checked manually at peak times because we don't have enough computers.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best arrangement of utterances or sentences to make a meaningful exchange or text in each of the following questions from 13 to 17 

a. Later, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, another Dutch optician, became famous for making highly accurate magnifying lenses and advancing its use.

b. The microscope is one of the most important inventions in the development of science and medicine. 

c. It is based on the principle that light can be refracted or bent by a glass lens, allowing tiny objects to be magnified in size. 

d. The first microscope, a “compound” type with two lenses, was invented around 1590 by Zacharias and Hans Janssen, Dutch eyeglass-makers.

e. While the principle was known to the Chinese as early as 1000 A.D., it was not put to practical use in Europe until the 13th and 14th centuries in the form of eyeglasses. 

Read the texts. Match the writers (Katie, Ben, Gareth, and Davina) with the questions below.

YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

How do you become a successful entrepreneur while you’re still at school? Four young people explain how they did it.

Katie Bradley, 14 - The chef

I’ve always eaten cakes, but when I learned to make them I realised how unhealthy many of them were. So I wanted to find a way to make healthy cakes, without much sugar. Instead of lots of sugar, I used more fruit and healthy kinds of low-sugar chocolate. The results were amazing – they were delicious, and also good for you. My mum encouraged me to start selling them at our local market, and I came up with the name ‘Katie’s cakes’. I was surprised at how popular they were! Now I’ve been contacted by a big supermarket. They’re keen to sell my products, so I’m really excited!

Ben Stewart, 15 - The blogger

I love writing, so one day my teacher suggested I started a blog. But there are lots of blogs on the internet, and I wanted my blog to be different. Then I had a great idea. I'm really interested in shopping, and I also know more about money than most teenagers: you know, how to earn it and how to save it. So I started a shopping and money blog for teenagers. I give people advice about shopping − and if they have money problems, I tell them the best thing to do. I started the website a year ago, and it's grown and grown. Thousands of people visit my blog now, and I make money from adverts on the blog. I’ve had lots of great messages from people too. One person said that I had changed their life. That’s awesome!

Gareth Jones, 13 - The website designer

I’ve had a computer since I was six years old, so I’ve grown up with I.T. I use websites all the time to help me with my homework. But in the past I often couldn’t find the answers to simple questions very quickly. I realised that many teenagers were probably having the same problem. So I came up with an idea for a new website. It's designed to help people with their homework, and it's already become very popular. It's for young people and written by young people too. It doesn’t cost anything to use the website, but I have advertisements on there so I’m making a lot of money. It’s brilliant!

Davina Richards, 16 - The online seller

When I was twelve years old, I wanted to go on a school trip. But my mum said that she wouldn’t pay for it − I could only go on the trip if I paid for it myself. So, I needed to sell something and make money. My mum

showed me how to use eBay, and I looked through my old CDs, books and gadgets and decided which ones to sell. I made £100 in the first few days, and after that I couldn’t stop. Now I’ve got an online shop. I buy things to sell in my shop, and my friends and I make things to sell online too.

Which person gives free advice to people?

Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each of the questions from 34 to 40.

1. Since the birth of the car in 1886, transport in big cities has changed a lot. It is no wonder many experts think that there will be extraordinary changes in the next few decades.

2. As technology develops, highways, skylines, subways will be all transformed. Smarter roadways and highways in cities outfitted with IoT sensors will process all kinds of data in real time and inform users of the best transport options. Weather, crashes, traffic conditions will be communicated to users and smart stops will be found everywhere providing renewable energy, green hydrogen or even greener energy, ensuring efficiency and safety on every highway. Tunnels will also be a smart choice because of the reduction of traffic congestion. Underground roads will be built in 3D with a lift system which will take vehicles deep underground and will allow traffic to attain the greatest speed without intersections.

3. There will also be innovations in the sky. Air taxis are not a new idea, but in the future they will be completely environment-friendly. Aviation gasoline will be no longer used. Green energy will be in place and cost-effective air taxis will enable people to travel from one busy urban city to another in record time.

4. New technologies such as AI and the rollout of 5G will pave the way for fully autonomous innovation. Cars will not be the only thing to go autonomous. Freight trucks, cargo vehicles, air taxis will all benefit from this technology and that is why the term 'driver' will become extinct.

5. Transport will go green. Electric or hydrogen power will be mainstream. There will still be issues to solve such as safety, speed and cost, and of course governments will need to make new traffic laws.

The word transformed in paragraph 2 is OPPOSITE in meaning to __________.

Read the following passage. For each of the questions, Decide the statement is TRUE or FALSE.

INVENTOR’S CIRCLE

With the progression of technology and the development of existing inventions, it is becoming more difficult for inventors to make money. It feels like people are running out of new ideas. However, there is hope! While becoming a successful inventor is increasingly more difficult, the community of inventors is growing, helping each other to reach their goals.

What makes the inventors’ community so strong? Well, the main reason that people choose to become an inventor is to help others or to make the world a better place to live. With such a goal, why wouldn’t they want to help each other? Inventors often work together, create their own businesses and give opportunities to those in need.

Social media such as Facebook and YouTube have also helped the inventors’ community. They have made it easier for inventors from across the globe to speak with each other and learn from each other through videos. Now that the internet is growing rapidly, there is endless information for inventors aspiring to get what they need.                              

Still, becoming an inventor is not getting easier with all this extra information. There is more competition, there are more people wanting to make the world better, to make people’s lives easier. This is because they now have all the information they need to make their dreams come true. On the plus side, with all the information and support, it has become easier for anyone to try. So, what’s stopping you? Start inventing!

It’s difficult to find information to assist learning.

Read the following passage about Marcel Bich and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 23 to 30.

Marcel Bich, a French manufacturer of traditional ink pens, was the man turning the ballpoint pen into an item that today almost anyone can afford. Bich was shocked at the poor quality of the ballpoint pens that were available, and also at their high cost. However, he recognised that the ballpoint was a firmly established invention, and he decided to design a cheap pen that worked well and would be commercially successful.

          Bich went to the Biro brothers and asked them if he could use the design of their original invention in one of his own pens. In return, he offered to pay them every time he sold a pen. Then, for two years, Bich studied the detailed construction of every ballpoint pen that was being sold, often working with a microscope.

          By 1950, he was ready to introduce his new wonder: a plastic pen with a clear barrel that wrote smoothly, did not leak and only cost a few cents. He called it the 'Bic Cristal'. The ballpoint pen had finally become a practical writing instrument. The public liked it immediately, and today it is as common as the pencil. In Britain, they are still called Biros, and many Bic models also say 'Biro' on the side of the pen, to remind people of their original inventors.

          Bich became extremely wealthy thanks to his invention, which had worldwide appeal. Over the next 60 years his company, Société Bic, opened factories all over the world and expanded its range of inexpensive products. Today, Bic is as famous for its lighters and razors as it is for its pens, and you can even buy a Bic mobile phone.

The word their in paragraph 2 refers to _________.

Choose the answer that indicates the underlined part that needs correction in each of the following questions.

I received an important phone call, yet I stopped driving and pulled over to answer it.

Read the text and answer the questions. Answer full sentence.

INVENTIONS THE WORLD FORGOT

The Telharmonium

The Telharmonium was the world's first electronic musical instrument. It was designed by Thaddeus Cahill in 1897. Music from the instrument was broadcast to people's homes using a telephone. Before the invention of the radio, people loved these first home concerts. After Cahill's death in 1934, his brother kept one of the three models, but in 1962 it was destroyed. No recordings of the music were kept, so the Telharmonium and its unique sound have disappeared forever.

The Writing Ball

Invented in 1865 by Rasmus Malling-Hansen from Denmark, the Writing Ball was a machine for typing onto paper. Its use of electricity made the movement faster. However, you could not see the paper as you were typing. Nevertheless, the Writing Ball was very successful. Since each model was made by hand, it was soon

replaced by other cheaper machines produced in factories. A new keyboard with a different key arrangement appeared. The once-popular Writing Ball was forgotten.

The Antikythera Mechanism

In 1901, parts of an ancient machine were discovered on a ship near the Greek island of Antikythera. It had been made about 1,900 years earlier, in 2 BCE. For many years after its discovery, nobody understood exactly what the machine was for. In the 1970s, scientists found that this ancient computer had been designed to predict the movements of the sun, the moon and the planets. It did this using more than thirty hand-made metal wheels of different sizes. The remains of the Antikythera mechanism are now kept at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, together with a number of reconstructions to demonstrate how it may have worked.

When was the Writing Ball invented?