Test: April Fool's Day

APRIL FOOL’S DAY!



In Spain, many people play tricks on December 28, Holy Innocents’ Day. In many other countries, jokes are played on April 1—April Fool’s Day. The reason seems to be that, up until the mid-sixteenth century, France
celebrated New Year’s Day on April 1, but in 1562 Pope Gregory XIII introduced a new calendar to the Christian world, which changed the date of the New Year to January 1. At that time news travelled slowly and some people continued to celebrate on April 1. These poor, misinformed people were referred to as "April Fools" and other people played tricks on them.
Nowadays, it seems that new technologies provide fresh ways of playing tricks on April 1. The Internet has given birth to a rise in popularity and proliferation of tricks and hoaxes. E-mail inboxes are bombarded with
messages warning of terrible viruses that cause users to delete important data from their computers, or of credit card cheats that request personal information, including passwords and bank account numbers. In August 2001 an e-mail containing a photo of a shark trying to attack a helicopter was received by e-mail throughout the world. The e-mail claimed the photo was National Geographic's "Photo of the Year", but National Geographic said that the photo was a fake and finally found the people responsible for making the composite image.

(A) COMPREHENSION (4 points)
a) ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-2 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS. (1 point per answer)

1) How did the tradition of April Fool’s Day originate?
2) How can you play a trick on someone using the new technologies? Give two examples.

b) ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT. (0.5 points per answer)

3) New Year’s Day has always been celebrated on the same day.
4) New technologies help people to avoid tricks.
5) A shark attacked a helicopter in August 2001.
6) National Geographic was responsible for an April Fools’ Day joke.

(B) USE OF ENGLISH (3 points)

7) Find in the text one synonym for NEW (adjective) (0.25 points)

Find in the text a word meaning: “remove by cutting out or erasing” (verb) (0.25 points)

9) Complete the series with another word of the same semantic group: (0.25 points)
SEE, LOOK, OBSERVE, CONTEMPLATE

10) Which word is not a preposition? (0.25 points)
THROUGH OF OR FOR

11) Fill in the gap with a correct form of the verb in brackets. (0.5 points)
When she arrived home, her husband (not cook) ________ dinner yet.

12) Turn the following sentence into the active voice: (0.5 points)
They were shown a picture of an attacking shark.

13) Give a question for the underlined words: (0.5 points)
The e-mail warned about terrible viruses infecting computers.

14) Join the following sentences using a relative. Make changes if necessary. (0.5 points)
He received an e-mail. Its content was spam.

(C) PRODUCTION (3 points)
15) WRITE A COMPOSITION (80-100 WORDS). CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS. SPECIFY
YOUR OPTION.

a) Can you tell a joke that you have played on someone or one that has been played on you?
b) How has the Internet changed people’s habits?

ANSWERS

1) How did the tradition of April Fool’s Day originate?
WHEN SOME PEOPLE CONTINUED CELEBRATING NEW YEAR’S DAY ON THE WRONG DATE (APRIL 1) OTHER PEOPLE PLAYED TRICKS ON THEM.
2) How can you play a trick on someone using the new technologies? Give two examples.
BY SENDING FALSE MESSAGES, FOR EXAMPLE ABOUT VIRUSES OR PRETENDING TO BE WRITING FROM A BANK REQUESTING PERSONAL INFORMATION.

3) New Year’s Day has always been celebrated on the same day. FALSE …
UP UNTIL THE MID-SIXTEENTH CENTURY, FRANCE CELEBRATED NEW YEAR’S DAY ON APRIL 1 (lines 2-3)
4) New technologies help people to avoid tricks. FALSE. …
NEW TECHNOLOGIES PROVIDE FRESH WAYS OF PLAYING TRICKS ON APRIL 1 (line 6)
5) A shark attacked a helicopter in August 2001. FALSE. …
THE PHOTO WAS A FAKE (line 11)
6) National Geographic was responsible for an April Fools’ Day joke. FALSE. …
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC … FOUND THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING THE COMPOSITE IMAGE (lines 11-12)

7) Find in the text one synonym for NEW (adjective) FRESH (line 6)
Find in the text a word meaning: “remove by cutting out or erasing” (verb) DELETE (line
9) Complete the series with another word of the same semantic group:
WATCH, VIEW, GAZE, GLIMPSE…
10) Which word is not a preposition? OR

11) When she arrived home, her husband HADN’T COOKED dinner yet.
12) SOMEONE SHOWED THEM A PICTURE OF AN ATTACKING SHARK.
13) WHAT DID THE E-MAIL DO/SAY?
14) HE RECEIVED AN E-MAIL WHOSE CONTENT WAS SPAM