TEST 5 PAPER 1: READING Part 2 FCE PRACTICE TESTS (with key)

 

FCE PRACTICE TESTS (with key) TEST 5 PAPER 1: READING Part 2 (QUESTIONS 9-15)

 

You are going to read an article in which a young man who lives in London explains why cycling is by the far the best way to get around in a big city. Seven sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-H the one which fits each gap (9-15). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet. Why I cycle in the city I cycle because it is cheaper, quicker, more reliable, it is better for the environment and it is better for me; both mentally and physically. Public transport is so expensive and so unreliable these days I try to use it as little as possible. On the underground and trains there are always delays, planned and unplanned closures and you can wait half an hour for a bus to then sit in a traffic jam. 9.___________ Public transport can be so uncomfortable too; it gets so crowded in the rush hour with hundreds of people all crammed into a tiny space. This makes it a stressful and unpleasant beginning or end to everyone’s day. No one looks at anyone else, even though you are only centimetres away from each other and all social graces go out the window. I much prefer to be on my bike. I know how long it will take me to get where I am going and I am outside in the fresh air. 10.___________ The one thing I used to like about travelling by train was reading the free paper or a good book but sometimes it is so busy you don’t have enough space to do that. It is true that at less busy times of the day public transport isn’t such a bad way to get around, except that at times of the day when fewer people want to use trains and buses there are, logically, fewer of them. In my experience an off-peak journey might be cheaper and pleasanter in the sense that you can sit down, read a book and generally not have your personal space invaded, but your journey will take longer as you’ll have to wait longer for connections. The other alternative would be to travel by car but again there are all sorts of reasons why the bike is a hundred times better. 11._________ Firstly, travelling by car is extremely expensive, something which in the future will only get worse as fuel prices continue to rise and parking restrictions increase. And while you don’t have to deal with impatient and stressed passengers pushing you off trains or buses you have to suffer impatient and stressed drivers next to you and behind you in heavy traffic. 12.__________ If there are hold ups because of traffic problems or an accident, we cyclists can just keep on going while cars have to sit and wait; how often do you hear someone apologising for being late because they were ‘stuck in traffic’? Often. A further disadvantage is the difficulty of parking; there is never a free parking space at the end of the day in the street so unless you want to drive around for hours looking for a space the only option is to have a garage; an additional cost. In the city centre the few public car parks which exist are unbelievably expensive. I can leave my bike more or less anywhere and don’t have to pay a penny. 13.___________ Finally and by no means the least important problem with travelling by car is that it is extremely harmful to the environment. If more people left their cars at home or car-shared we could reduce our carbon emissions significantly. There are of course also some drawbacks to cycling. 14.___________ There is no denying it really is unpleasant cycling in the rain. However, it is also not nice to be on the bus or train or driving a car in the rain. Safety of course is an issue too, although in recent years a lot more cycle lanes have been put in place and I think drivers are more aware of cyclists now than they used to be. Another thing is that when you cycle you have to carry a change of clothes with you which can be inconvenient but I have got used to it and now I actually like arriving at work and changing into clean, dry things. 15.__________  At the end of a long busy day it sometimes just seems too much energy to get on my bike and cycle for forty minutes but once I get going I always feel much better for the physical exercise. For me there is no contest, cycling is simply the best way to get around. Walking is the only other way I would contemplate getting around in the city, but of course that is really only possible for short distances.   A Cycling at quiet times of the day means you can get where you want to be in even less time. B Even on a good day my journey by underground, train or bus would take me longer than cycling and my bike takes me all the way to where I want to go. C The bad weather is probably the worst. D The only other negative point is that it can be tiring. E Also cyclists are, on the whole, nice to each other unlike fellow commuters on the train or bus. F A journey by car to work in the morning can be a very exhausting experience. G When I get home I can literally just pick it up and bring it inside with me. H Of course in a car you have your own space and don’t have the same pressures as on public transport but there are other problems to deal with.

ANSWER KEY