Aptis Reading

(25 Questions – 30 minutes)

Task 1
Choose one word (A, B or C) for each space and write the letter on the paper.
The first one (0)is done for you as an example with the answer A marked on
your answer paper.
Dear Sir,
My son, Kevin, left 0) __A__ two months ago and now he is looking for his
first 1)______. Theproblem is that companies always 2)____ they want people
with experience, but how can heget experience if no one gives him a job? He
reads the 3)________ in the paper every day, butthere is nothing for people like
him. Today he’s 4)________ some gardening for ourneighbours to 5)________
a bit of money, but he needs a real job.Mr. G Carter.
EXAMPLE
0 A school B home C me
1 A work B job C occupation
2 A say B tell C ask
3 A news B text C adverts
4 A making B having C doing
5 A earn B get C spend

Task 2
Order the sentences (B-G) below to make a story. Write your answers on the
answer paper(Questions 6-11).
The first sentence of the story (A) is given for you on the answer paper as an
example.
A. Harland Sanders was born in the USA in 1890, but his childhood wasn’t a
happy one.
B. That was when he first learned to cook.
C. Over the next nine years Harland developed his secret chicken recipe that
made himfamous.
 D. Sanders continued to work for KFC as a public spokesman and visited
restaurants allover the world until he died in 1980, aged 90.
E. His father died when he was four and his mother had to find a job to
support thefamily, so Harland stayed at home to look after his younger
brother and sister.
F. In the 1950s he decided to close down his restaurant and sold the secret
recipe toother businesses one of which became Kentucky Fried Chicken.
G. He left home when he was twelve and he had a number of different jobs,
includingbeing a service station manager in Corbin, Kentucky, where he
cooked for hungrytravellers.
0) A
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)

Task 3
Read the text and match each space (12-18) with one word from the box below.
Write theletters (A-K) on the Answer Sheet. The answer to question 00 is given
on your answer paper asan example (L). You will not need to find five of the
words.
A Hong Kong hotel has sold individual 00 to be used as homes. It's one of the
ways 12 aretrying to cope with soaring housing prices, which are among the
highest in the world.Thehotel suites are cheaper than apartments in Hong Kong.
Hundreds of people 13 up for hours tobuy a unit at the Apex Horizon Hotel
this week. It's not clear whether investors can legally livein the suites but buyers
are still eager. The hotel was able to sell all 360 of its suites in twodays - a sign
there is a 14 for affordable housing. Hong Kong's low 15 rate hasattracted
hordes of mainland Chinese investors. It pushed home prices to record highs
lastyear. Flats 16 an average of US$14,000 per square metre in central
locations. Many residentsfeel they can no longer 17 to buy apartments.Hong
Kong people cope by renting makeshift homes on rooftops, while others move
into so-called cage homes - hutches made from wire-mesh, stacked on top of
each other in a tinyroom. The government's efforts to cool down 18 prices
have not worked. So Hong Kongresidents have to be creative in finding space to
live.
A queued
B interest
C afford
D spend
E residents
F investors
G property
H saveI lined
J cost
K demand
L rooms = 00

Task 4
Read the text below. Match the headings A-H to the paragraphs 0-5 (Questions
19-23). Writeyour answers (A-H) on the paper. There 3 headings you don’t
need.The answer to Paragraph 0 is given on the answer paper as an example (J).
Your answers:
A Domestic specialties for the whole country
B The current pizza varieties
C The reason why we can’t take it home from the supermarket
D No pizza is complete without cheese
E You can be thankful for the poor
F Where it comes from
G Tasty for all the family
H Tribute to the First Lady
I Nothing compares to the original
 0. There are not too many nations that can say their national dish has become
an internationalphenomenon. Italy has two such dishes, pasta and of course
pizza. In America pizza usuallyfalls into two categories: thick and cheesy
Chicago style or thin and traditional New York pizza.In Italy pizza also falls
into two distinct categories: Italian pizza and the rest of the world. Itmight seem
silly considering the basic ingredients, but one taste of a true Italian pizza
andthat's it. You will never feel the same about this simple and delicious food
again.
1.In its basic ‘seasoned flatbread’ form, pizza has a long history in the
Mediterranean.Several cultures including the Greeks ate a flatbread made from
flour and water. The doughwould be cooked by placing it on a hot stone and
then seasoned with herbs. The Greeks calledthis early pizza "plankuntos" and it
was basically used as an edible plate when eating stews orthick broth. It was not
yet what we would call pizza today. These early pizzas were eaten fromRome to
Egypt to Babylon and were praised by the ancient historians Herodotus and
Cato theElder.
2.The introduction of tomatoes to Italian cuisine in the 18th and early 19th
centuriesfinally gave us the true modern Italian pizza. Even though tomatoes
reached Italy by the 1530sit was widely thought that they were poisonous and
were grown only for decoration.However, the innovative (and probably
starving) peasants of Naples started using thesupposedly deadly fruit in many of
their foods, including their early pizzas. Since that fatefulday when peasants
first used tomatoes, the world of Italian cuisine would never be the
same,however, it took some time for the rest of society to accept this crude
peasant food. Oncemembers of the local aristocracy tried pizza they couldn't get
enough of it, which by this timewas being sold on the streets of Naples for every
meal.
3. As pizza popularity increased, street vendors gave way to actual shops where
peoplecould order a custom pizza with many different toppings. By 1830 the
"Antica PizzeriaPort'Alba" of Naples had become the first true pizzeria and this
venerable institution is stillproducing masterpieces. The popular pizza
Margherita owes its name to Italy's QueenMargherita who in 1889 visited the
Pizzeria Brandi in Naples. The Pizzaioli (pizza maker) onduty that day, created
a pizza for the Queen that contained the three colours of the newItalian flag.
The red of tomato, white of the mozzarella and fresh green basil was a hit with
theQueen and the rest of the world. Neapolitan style pizza had now spread
throughout Italy.
4.The Pizza Margherita may have set the standard, but there are numerous
popularvarieties of pizza made in Italy today. Pizza from a pizzeria is the
recognized round shape,made to order and always cooked in a wool fired oven.
Regional Italian varieties are alwaysworth trying such as Pizza Marinara, a
traditional Neapolitan from the south of Italy is a pizzathat has oregano,
anchovies and lots of garlic. Pizza Napoli: tomato mozzarella and
anchovies.Capricciosa: a topping of mushrooms, prosciutto, artichoke hearts,
olives and a boiled egg.Pizza Pugliese makes use of the local capers and olives
of the area while Pizza Veronese fromthe north of Italy has mushrooms and
tender Prosciutto crudo. Pizzas from the Italian island ofSicily can have
numerous toppings ranging from green olives, seafood, hard-boiled eggs
andpeas.
5. One thing to keep in mind when ordering pizza in an Italian pizzeria is that
the productis personal size. Each person at a table should order their own
individual pizza - one bite willexplain why. In certain areas outside Italy, there
are a few Piazzioli who keep to theirhomeland traditions as best they can with
the ingredients they have, but it really isn't thesame. In the end there is no going
back once you try a real Italian pizza, no delivery or frozenproduct will ever
stimulate your taste buds the way a real Italian pizza will!
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