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A) BRALNO RAZUMEVANJE
Task 1: Multiple choice
For items 1–8, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits according to the text.
There is an example at the beginning (0).
Caged Johnson
1 Sometimes, when the rain falls hard during a warm August night, the morning emerges Par 1
clouded by scattered patches of fog. It was one of those mornings; some parts of the
Orson Brothers Coal Mine appeared blurred behind thick, misty curtains left by rain the
night before. The fog dominated the iron equipment shed, the coal storage facilities,
5 and the large main building that housed both the manager's office and the massive
rusted elevator that carried men and boys in and out of the bowels of the earth. It was
early, six o'clock, and the dawn illuminated much of the mine yard but left portions of
earth and a few small mining carts in scary shadows.
The mine usually buzzed with activity, but for now things were silent. Sump Stevenson Par 2
10 rested on a wooden bench in one of the equipment sheds, looking up through a small
crack in the iron roof, watching the passing fog and the slow emergence of pale sunlight
overhead. His hair was deep brown with touches of dull silver over each ear. It was
knotted and rough, not having been washed for days. As the sun grew brighter, it slowly
lit up the features of his face. It was thin and muscular. Under that sandy beard it was
15 undeniably warm, carrying a smile that could brighten even the foggiest of mornings. Still
peering through the crack, brown eyes turned upward, Sump thought about his wife.
She was expecting, and spent the days at home resting or reading. Sump suspected she
was bored, since she had given up her secretarial position during the time. She loved to
work; it made her feel useful, she'd say. But when you're carrying something as precious
20 as a child, it's better to rest than be wedged in front of a typewriter. It pained Sump to be
away from her during these days. She needed him with her, but money didn't permit a
vacation. He figured that when the time drew nearer for her to give birth, in a month or
so, he'd take time off and devote himself to her. He hated putting his job first, especially
when work couldn't possibly compare to the importance of his wife. She meant the world
25 to him, but bills poured in day after day that needed paying. In the long run, the early
mornings and endless days of working hard underground would be worth it, he thought.
He kept focused on a time in the future when he wouldn't have to work so hard, picturing
it like a beach in the tropics; warm and inviting.
As he sat gazing up through the hole in the roof, the far-off howl of the morning whistle
30 penetrated the little shed. Sump pushed open the shed door and stepped out into the
mine-yard. Silence soon gave way to the dull sound of miners pouring in through the
front gate. They came in one by one, each carrying a thermos bottle of coffee or lunch
in a grease-stained paper bag. They were men and boys, some as young as eighteen.
The boys always looked enthusiastic, wearing a certain look about their faces, while
35 the older men knew better. Their faces were hard and cold, rough from too many years
of mining. If you worked at the mine too long, some of the men would say, you started
slowly turning to coal on the inside. It crept into you, they said, infected you. After a
while your heart was as black as the coal you mined.
Sump wouldn't let himself feel that way. He stood as a pillar of hopefulness surrounded
40 by decay and ruin; positivity was the key to staying right inside, to keep from turning to
coal. Some days were harder than others, sometimes the dark corners of the
underground tunnels invaded the mind, oppressed it. Yet Sump kept an eye on the
present, knowing full well it would one day glide into a future of security.
(Adapted from the short story Caged Johnson by M. T. Bove)
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Example:
0. Patches of fog could be seen around the Orson Brothers Coal Mine because
A it was a warm August morning.
B of intensive coal mining operations.
C it had rained the night before.
D of the extreme August heat.
1. Paragraph 1 clearly states that the mine 5. Thinking about his present position, Sump
elevator
A found himself caught between desire
A was part of the main building. and duty.
B could hardly be seen in the fog. B decided to go underground and work
overtime.
C stood behind the manager's office.
C realised he meant everything to his
D was located in the equipment shed.
wife.
D forgot all about his financial problems.
2. The peacefulness of the early morning 6. The sound of the whistle
A was destroyed by approaching mining A signalled that miners had arrived
carts. through the gate.
B had not yet been disturbed by the B announced the beginning of the
miners. workday.
C had been brought about by the heavy C brought back Sump's memories of his
fog. childhood.
D was interrupted by scary shadows. D made Sump look up the hole in the
roof.
3. In Paragraph 2, the author concludes that 7. The word 'Yet' (Line 42) means
Sump
A now.
A was just as dirty as other miners.
B so far.
B was warmed up by the rising sun.
C moreover.
C couldn't see well through the crack.
D nevertheless.
D must have been a kind-hearted person.
4. Sump's wife left her job because she 8. According to the extract, which of the
following statements about Sump is not
A didn't like the work.
true?
B had to carry a child.
A Sump was well-focussed, responsible
C was pregnant. and realistic.
D felt useless. B Common beliefs made Sump change
his opinion about his work.
C Sump believed that his efforts would
eventually be rewarded.
D Occasionally, the underground world
would haunt Sump's thoughts.
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Task 2: Matching
You will read a text about e-cigarettes.
For statements 1–12, choose from paragraphs A–E. Some of the paragraphs may be chosen
more than once. When more than one answer is required, these may be given in any order.
There are three examples at the beginning: (0), (00) and (000).
Examples:
Producers do not always reveal which substances e-cigarettes 0 C
contain.
E-cigarettes are a substitute for traditional ones. 00 A and 000 D
Some scientific studies point out the risk of e-cigarette use. 1 _____ and 2 _____
There is a great resemblance in what the two types of cigarettes
3 _____
look like.
The opinions about the influence of e-cigarettes on young people
4 _____
are split.
The market offers e-cigarettes that suit the individual tastes of
5 _____
consumers.
Their visual appeal adds to the popularity of e-cigarettes. 6 _____
The popularity of e-cigarettes is partly due to their successful
7 _____ and 8 _____
promotion.
The way the new cigarettes work has resulted in a new
9 _____
expression.
Not enough research on e-cigarettes has been carried out yet. 10 _____
Doctors cannot prescribe e-cigarettes for therapeutic use. 11 _____
Electronic cigarettes come in a variety of shapes. 12 _____
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From novelty to billion-dollar player
You're at your favorite restaurant, enjoying a meal. A diner at the next table is puffing on a cigarette,
letting out a cloud of smoke. Because smoking isn't allowed in the restaurant, you're thinking about
asking the smoker to put the cigarette out. But before you protest, consider this: Your neighbor may
not be smoking at all.
A Electronic cigarettes, also known as smokeless cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or e-cigs, are an
alternative method of consuming nicotine, the addictive chemical found in tobacco. E-cigarettes
were first developed in China and were introduced to the U.S. market in the year 2007. Many are
similar enough in appearance to be mistaken for regular tobacco cigarettes. But one look inside
and you'll see the main difference: This is a tobacco-free product. E-cigs are actually vaporizers;
instead of burning tobacco, the mechanism heats up a liquid, a solution of propylene glycol or
glycerine mixed with water. When the user inhales, the solution is vaporized – therefore, the term
vaping – and a nicotine hit to the lungs is delivered without tar and toxins. And this, insist e-
cigarette users and supporters, is what makes the crucial difference and distinction between
those and traditional cigarettes.
B The fact is that the popularity of e-cigarettes cannot be disputed. They have evolved from a
novelty item to a $1 billion industry in the past few years, thanks to a belief that the battery-
powered devices are safer than regular cigarettes, and probably some effective advertising as
well. But some people raise the concern that e-cigarettes can serve as a gateway for young
adults and teens to experience a form of smoking before graduating to the real thing. The counter
to that, surely, is that if habits are hardened in those early and impressionable years, the user
may never be tempted to try old-style cigarettes.
C Many e-cigarette users assume that eliminating the smoke of burning tobacco also eliminates the
harm. "There's no question that e-cigarettes deliver fewer toxic substances than conventional
cigarettes, but the question of how much less is still not clear," says Stanton Glantz, director of
the Center for Tobacco Control Research at the University of California at San Francisco. Though
sales of e-cigarettes are expected to reach $1 billion this year, with many different brands
available, vaping is new enough that there haven't been many studies done yet – certainly none
of the large-scale. What most regulatory agencies are concerned about is the lack of disclosure
of all the ingredients used, as well as the lack of health and safety claims by manufacturers about
their products. In 2009, for example, the Food and Drug Administration research confirmed some
cartridges of liquid nicotine contained about 1 percent diethylene glycol, a toxic chemical
ingredient that is also found in antifreeze.
D Using a new method of testing, researchers found that in three out of ten e-cigs studied, the level
of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, came close to the amount in conventional cigarettes.
Furthermore, a highly toxic molecule called acrolein was detected, sometimes at levels even
higher than in traditional cigarettes. According to the researchers, this is not a reason to ban
them, but to place them under much better control. There is also a quality control issue for e-
cigarettes, Stanton Glantz points out in his latest research. Unlike prescription nicotine patches,
lozenges and gum, no electronic cigarettes have been approved as aids to help smokers quit
traditional tobacco, although they are definitely being used as an alternative. "Further detailed
research is needed to assess the potential public health benefits and risks of electronic cigarettes
as well as other novel tobacco products," said FDA spokesperson Jennifer Haliski.
E The rise of the e-cigarette has been verging on the meteoric – in 2013, sales rose 340 percent
year on year. There is an extensive range of various brands and styles, ranging from models
which look like pipes while others are designed to resemble pens, pencils or other more socially
acceptable items. Whatever their design; disposable, rechargeable and personal vaporizer
versions are all readily available, as are e-juices to flavor the vapor. Conventional menthol flavors
sit alongside apple, pineapple, kiwi and even bubblegum for the more adventurous e-pioneer.
The positive publicity from various celebrities, including rapper Snoop Dogg, who has designed a
vaporizer pen with a roadmap of Long Beach printed on it, and Leonardo DiCaprio, has helped to
make the device even more popular. A variety of novelty versions in the disguise of lightsabres
and Nintendo NES controllers, seem to promote e-cigarettes as a form of fashionable, iconic
accessory.
(Adapted from various sources)
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B) POZNAVANJE IN RABA JEZIKA
Task 1: Gap fill
There is ONE word missing in each gap. Write the missing words in the spaces on the right.
Bear in mind that all contracted forms with the exception of can't count as two words.
There is an example at the beginning: Gap 0.
Writing is on the wall: Britain's 'ghost signs'
provide faded memories of our consumer past
Sam Roberts spends his life looking up. Crossing a busy London road,
the 35-year-old glances at street level for just a split second to check 0. before
for cars, __0__ his eyes flick back skyward, his gaze now fixed __1__
a faded hand-painted sign for 'John Brown Whiskies'.
Roberts is a self-confessed 'ghost sign' obsessive. It started five years 1. ________________________
ago, __2__ he noticed an advert for 'Walker Bros Fount Pen
Specialists' painted on the brick façade above a shop near his home.
2. ________________________
"It's just one of those twists of fate that leads to an obsession," says
Roberts, showing me the sign, __3__ must have been painted
between 1924 and 1928. He has old photos from when the painting 3. ________________________
was fresh, showing __4__ farmer walking his sheep past the shop.
Roberts, __5__ background is in advertising, started a blog called 4. ________________________
'Brick Ads' to document ghost signs, the term used to describe the
remnants of adverts painted __6__ hand directly on to the brickwork of 5. ________________________
buildings. His blog features works from across the country, complete
with pictures and stories of how they came __7__ exist.
6. ________________________
"Ghost signs speak to people from the past," says Roberts, and "tell a
story about the area and the people who once lived __8__." Around
the UK, the signs tend to date from the late 19th and early 20th 7. ________________________
century, until the 1950s, when mass-produced posters and billboards
became cheaper options. 8. ________________________
Terry Guy, founder __9__ the art collective Monorex, says he saw
painted advertising take off in New York over the past 10 years. It 9. ________________________
prompted him to set __10__ a division of Monorex a year ago, to cope
with demand in the UK from clients such as Converse. "It appeals to
companies __11__ a lot of levels," says Guy. "It has an originality that 10. ________________________
billboards don't have, it's eco-friendly, __12__ it has a sense of
permanence. What I like most is that it has a magical, real art element; 11. ________________________
and it allows an artist to show off their trade for five days or so."
"I became a sign writer in 1980, just as plastic signs were really taking 12. ________________________
off," he says. "I thought I was learning a dying trade but now, at the
age of 49, I couldn't be busier. This year has been amazing for sign-
13. ________________________
writing. People don't want the perfection of computers __13__ more.
They want to see letters __14__ feathered edges and the texture of
brush strokes." 14. ________________________
Roberts thinks that these signs exist with a permanence that makes
them part of the community. __15__ all, they've survived more than 15. ________________________
100 years so far."
(Adapted from an article in The Independent, 9 November 2013, by Enjoli Liston)
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Task 2: Gap fill (verbs)
For gaps 1–13, write the correct form of the verb in brackets in the spaces on the right.
There is an example at the beginning: Gap 0.
The danger of too many selfies: We're striving for perfection that won't come
Putting camera equipped smartphones in the hands of a billion plus
people __0__ (TURN) us all into mini-reporters. And one of the main 0. has turned
things we report on is our own face. As a result there are over a million
so-called selfies __1__ (TAKE) every day. We now have special selfie
sticks that can be used to hold our phones away from us for better
1. ________________________
pictures. These have become so popular so quickly that they __2__
(NOW / BAN) at many cultural sites. And selfies are even popping up in
the darkest of places, including funerals and terrorist attacks. 2. ________________________
Does this matter? Is there any harm in this selfie swarm beyond mild
bemusement? It is a new form of communication, but it seems to be an 3. ________________________
old message of connection. If a child sends a selfie to her grandmother
and the picture makes her __3__ (SMILE), the world is probably a
4. ________________________
better place. And if two friends swap images of each other __4__
(MAKE) goofy faces during a boring day at school, this may seem like
a decent way __5__ (LIGHTEN) the mood a bit. However, many selfies 5. ________________________
are driven by the twin forces of arrogance and anxiety. One group –
arrogant, narcissistic and self-promoting – starts a trend. The other 6. ________________________
group – anxious and wanting to fit in – follows. People who are
narcissistic report sending the most selfies. This gets them attention
and it probably feels good – if you think you are attractive. __6__
7. ________________________
(SEE) your charm broadcast to your social network is a positive
experience. And this isn’t too surprising; it is the same pattern that 8. ________________________
__7__ (BE) present in other social media for decades, with narcissism
predicting self-enhancing Facebook photos and number of Twitter 9. ________________________
posts. The greater dangers from selfies are found on the anxiety side.
Research psychologists have put mirrors and cameras in laboratories
__8__ (UNDERSTAND) what happens psychologically when we look 10. ________________________
at ourselves. The first experience is self-consciousness – we become
aware of ourselves as objects. The second is comparison – we 11. ________________________
compare ourselves to our ideal standards. This can be a problem with
real consequences. In one well known study, for example, women who
12. ________________________
reluctantly agreed to wear a swimsuit in front of a mirror feared that
they __9__ (SUFFER) from body shame during the experiment. This
was done in the pre-selfie era, but my hunch is that the results would 13. ________________________
be similar if the study __10__ (CARRY OUT) with selfies.
We are living in a culture surrounded by selfies. The people posting
most frequently tend __11__ (ACT) narcissistically, seeking self-
promotion. People who want to look good master the art of the selfie.
Celebrity selfies are often enhanced by professional make-up and
lighting. Sitting in a TV studio, you have enough make-up on to make a
cadaver look good. When the rest of us take a selfie, though, it is
amateur hour. If we __12__ (STUDY) our image too closely it is clear
that we are really not as attractive as we should be – definitely not as
attractive as the people whose selfies we see most often. So what
happens next? When we feel bad, we try to change. We can try some of
the filters available on various sites to even out our skin tone. Or we can
go the Kim Kardashian route and take scores of selfies until we __13__
(GET) it right. But she is a pro and selfies are her job – we should have
better things to do.
(Adapted from an article in The Independent, 19 February 2015, by W. Keith Campbell)
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