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CERTYFIKAT JĘZYKOWY UNIWERSYTETU WARSZAWSKIEGO  

EGZAMIN Z JĘZYKA ANGIELSKIEGO   NA POZIOMIE C1 

TEST PRZYKŁADOWY  

 

•  odpowiedzi na pytania do testów 1, 2, 3.1, 3.2  wpisuj na kartę odpowiedzi  numer 1  

 

•  odpowiedzi na pytania do testów 3.3, 3.4, i 4 wpisuj na kartę odpowiedzi   

          numer 2 

 

 

) Do wszystkich części egzaminu dołączone są instrukcje. Przeczytaj je uważnie zanim 
przystąpisz do rozwiązywania zadań testowych

 

INSTRUKCJA TESTOWA  

•  Otrzymałaś/-eś książeczkę testową, dwie karty odpowiedzi i ołówek . 

ROZWIĄZUJ TESTY 1, 2, 3.1, 3.2. (PYTANIA 1 - 60) NA KARCIE ODPOWIEDZI 

NUMER 1 W NASTĘPUJĄCY SPOSÓB: 

•  Do każdego pytania podane są trzy lub cztery odpowiedzi do wyboru, oznaczone literami A, 

B, C, (D).  

 
•  Wybieraj za każdym razem jedną prawidłową odpowiedź . 
•  Możesz wykorzystywać książeczkę testową do zaznaczania odpowiedzi  „na brudno”. 
•  Na kartę odpowiedzi nanieś ostateczną wersję, zaczerniając 

DOKŁADNIE OŁÓWKIEM CAŁY

 

wybrany przez siebie prostokącik. 

 
ROZWIĄZUJ TESTY 3.3, 3.4. (PYTANIA 61 - 90) ORAZ TEST 4 NA KARCIE  

ODPOWIEDZI  NUMER 2 W NASTĘPUJĄCY SPOSÓB: 

•  Wszystkie odpowiedzi  wpisuj DŁUGOPISEM na osobnej karcie odpowiedzi.  
•  Niniejszą książeczkę testową możesz wykorzystać do rozwiązywania testu  „na brudno”. 
•  Test 4 możesz napisać „na brudno” na odwrocie stron książeczki testowej. 
•  Pisz wyraźnie! Nieczytelne pismo nie będzie brane pod uwagę!  

 

 

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EGZAMIN CERTYFIKACYJNY Z JĘZYKA ANGIELSKIEGO NA POZIOMIE C1 

TEST PRZYKŁADOWY  

 

Test 1: Listening comprehension  questions 1 - 10  
You will listen twice to a short lecture. Below, there are 10 questions about the lecture (numbered 
1 - 10). Before listening to the lecture, read the questions. Then, while listening to the lecture, answer 
the questions by choosing the right option. Mark your answers on answer sheet 1.    
 
1. The main subject of the lecture is about 
 

a) finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease. 

 

b) recent advancements in microtechnology. 

 

c) influences of electronic devices on the human brain.  

2. The  speaker refers to herself as a 
 

a) neuroscientist from Oxford. 

 

b) researcher from Harvard. 

 

c) neurologist from a medical school. 

 
3. According to the speaker, the human brain continues to be flexible 
 

a) only in early childhood. 

 

b) throughout the period of adolescence. 

 

c) till people become mature adults. 

 
4. She formulates the hypothesis that the number of external stimuli 
 

a) has increased  in recent years. 

 

b) has remained stable. 

 

c) has slowed down in the last 100 years. 

 
5. The speaker perceives a connection between 
 

a) personality and modes of behaviour. 

 

b) the Internet and neurological diseases. 

 

c) technological devices and human identity. 

 
6. The speaker mentions the Harvard experiment to make a point about 
 

a) the unchangeable structure of the human brain. 

 

b) the plasticity of the brain. 

 

c) the uselessness of intensive training. 

 
7. The experiment conducted at Harvard Medical School  involved 
 

a) three groups of people, of which only one received piano lessons. 

 

b) two groups of people closed in one room. 

 

c) one group of people who were told to watch  the piano. 

 
8. The results of the experiment reveal that 
 

a) there were no changes in the brain structure following piano practice.  

 

b) there were changes in the brain due to observing the piano. 

 

c) there were changes in the brain due to imagining piano lessons. 

  

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         9. The speaker  reaches a conclusion that 

 

a) playing computer games may cause changes in one's behaviour. 

 

b) playing the piano may reduce negative changes in the brain. 

 

c) watching television may increase one's attention span. 

 

10. The speaker uses the phrase “little grey cells” in the context of 
 

a) how the brain deteriorates as a result of  too many computer-based activities. 

 

b) the way  people should enjoy the pleasures of life. 

 

c) how new computer activities can prolong mental  alertness. 

 
 
Test 2: Reading Comprehension  questions 11 - 20  
Read the following text and answer the questions below by choosing the right option. Mark your answers 
on answer sheet 1. Some words have been underlined in connection with later questions.  
 
School is out, and Aaron Stallings, his junior year of high school behind him, wanders the air-conditioned 

cocoon of the Woodland Hills Mall in search of a job. Mr. Stallings, 18, says he has been looking for three 

months, burning gasoline to get to the mall, then filling out applications at stores selling skateboard T-

shirts, beach sandals and baseball caps. He likes the idea of working amid the goods he covets. But so far, 

no offers. “I’m going to go to Iraq and get a job,” he says acidly. “I hear they’ve got cheap gas.” He grins. 

“I’m just playing. But I’ve been all over, and nobody’s hiring. They just say, ‘We’ll call you tomorrow.’ 

And no one ever calls back.”  

As the forces of economic downturn ripple widely across the United States, the job market of 2008 is 

shaping up as the weakest in more than half a century for teenagers looking for summer work, according 

to labor economists, government data and companies that hire young people. This deterioration is 

jeopardizing what many experts consider a crucial beginning stage of working life, one that gives young 

people experience and confidence along with pocket money. Little more than one-third of the 16- to 19-

year-olds in the United States are likely to be employed this summer, the smallest share since the 

government began tracking teenage work in 1948, according to a research paper published by the Center 

for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. The rates among minority young people 

have been particularly low, with only 21 percent of African-Americans and 31 percent of Hispanics from 

the ages of 16 to 19 employed last summer, according to the Labor Department. 

Retailers, a major source of summer jobs, are grappling with a loss of American spending power, causing 

some to pull back in hiring. Restaurants, also big employers of teenagers, are adding jobs at a slower pace 

than in previous summers, said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president for research at the National 

Restaurant Association in Washington. As older people stay in the work force longer and as experienced 

workers lose jobs at factories and offices, settling for lower-paying work in restaurants and retail, some 

teenagers are being squeezed out. 

At the lower end of the market, adult Mexican immigrants, in particular, pose competition for jobs 

traditionally filled by younger Americans, like those at fast food chains. “Spanish-speaking team members 

in our stores have increased the age a little bit,” said Andy Lorenzen, senior manager for human resources 

at Chick-fil-A, a national chain of chicken restaurants based in Atlanta, where 70 percent of the work 

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force is 14 to 19 years old. Adult workers “have lost jobs in this economic downturn and begun to seek 

employment in our stores.” 

Employment among American teenagers has been sliding continuously for the last decade and, with a few 

ups and downs, dropping steadily since the late 1970s, when nearly half of all 16- to 19-year-olds had 

summer jobs. Economists debate the cause of this precipitous decline in teenage employment. Many 

contend that the drop is largely a favorable trend, reflecting a rising percentage of teenagers completing 

high school and going on to college, with some enrolling in summer academic programs, leaving less time 

for work. “The key factor is the attraction of attending college and enjoying the increasing wage premium 

that accompanies this,” said John H. Pencavel, a labor economist at Stanford University. Kids from 

higher-income households just aren’t going into the labor market. They’re looking for things to put on 

résumés, and working at Dairy Queen or Wal-Mart just isn’t going to help you get into Wake Forest or 

Stanford. And they just don’t need the cash. 

 
11) Aaron Stallings refers to “cheap gas in Iraq”. Why does he mention the fact? 
a) To signal his willingness to work in Iraq. 
b) To stress how much money he spends on job hunting. 
c) To criticize the job opportunities offered in Iraq. 
 
12) What do we learn about the job market for teenagers in 2008? 
a) It has never been worse since records began. 
b) It faced a worse crisis in 1948. 
c) It is an improvement on the level of unemployment reached in 2000. 
 
13) Which group of young people is worst hit by the crisis? 
a) White Americans. 
b) African-Americans. 
c) Hispanics. 
 
14) Which of the following is NOT implied in paragraphs three and four as a factor reducing job offers for 
young people? 
a) Retailers are forced to cut down employment. 
b) Older workers do not take early retirement. 
c) Teenagers are reluctant to accept low-paying jobs. 
 
15) What is the current situation in Atlanta’s chicken restaurants? 
a) Young Americans no longer wish to work there. 
b) Some adult immigrants apply for jobs at Chick-fil-A. 
c) Spanish-speaking kids constitute 70 percent of the workforce. 
 
16) Employment figures for the youngsters were the highest in: 
a) the late 1970s. 
b) at the beginning of the 21 century. 
c) in the 1950s. 
 

17) “It’s not the kind of job experience that will help me in the future.” Which teenage group would be 
likely to think that and about which employer? 
a) African-Americans about retailers and restaurants. 
b) Mexican immigrants about Chick-fil-A. 
c) Kids from wealthier households  about Dairy Queen. 

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18) The word those underlined in paragraph four refers to: 
a) Younger Americans. 
b) Jobs. 
c) Mexican immigrants. 

 

19) Which word in the text could be replaced with over
a) out (paragraph one). 
b) along (paragraph two). 
c) back (paragraph three) 

 

20) The word sliding, underlined in paragraph five could be replaced with: 
a) decreasing
b) increasing
c) fluctuating 
 

Test 3: Use of English   
 
3.1. questions 21 - 50   
Read the text below and complete the gaps (numbered 21 - 50) by choosing A, B, C or D from the 
options given below the text. Mark your answers on answer sheet 1.   
 
When older people can no longer remember names at a cocktail party, they 21)______ to think that their 

brainpower is 22)______ . But a growing number of studies suggest that this assumption is often wrong. 

23)______, the research finds, the ageing brain is simply taking in more data and trying to sift through a 

24)______ of information, often to its long-term benefit.  

Some brains are affected, however. 

Alzheimer’s disease

, for example, 25)______ thirteen  percent of 

Americans 65 and older. But for most ageing adults, the authors say, much of 26)______ occurs is a 

gradually widening focus of attention that makes it more difficult to latch onto just one fact, like a name or 

a telephone number. 27)______ that can be frustrating, it is often useful.  It may increase the 28)______ of 

information available to the conscious mind. For example, in studies where 29)______  are asked to read 

passages that are interrupted with unexpected words or phrases, adults 60 and older work much more 

slowly than college students. Although the students 30)______ through the texts at a consistent speed 

regardless 31)______ the out-of-place words mean, older people slow down even more when the words 

are related to the topic 32)______ . That indicates that they are not just stumbling 33)______ the extra 

information, but are taking it in and processing it. 

When both groups were later asked questions for which the out-of-place words might be answers, the 

older adults responded much better than the students.  

“For the young people, it’s 34)______ the distraction never happened,” said Lynn Hasher,  a senior 

scientist at the Rotman Research Institute. “But for older adults, because they’ve retained all this extra 

35)______ , they’re now suddenly the better problem solvers. They can transfer the information they’ve 

36)______ up from one situation to another.”  

Such tendencies can 37)______ big advantages in the real world, where it is not always clear what 

information is important, or will become important. A 38)______  irrelevant point or suggestion in a 

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memo can 39)______ on new meaning if the original plan changes. Or extra details that stole your 

attention, like 40)______  yawning and fidgeting, may help you assess the speaker’s real impact. 

“A broad 

attention 

 41)______ may enable older adults to ultimately know more about a situation and the 

indirect message 42)______  what is going on than their younger peers,” Dr. Hasher said. “We believe that 

this 43)______ may play a significant role in why we think of older people as wiser.” 

In a 2003 study, Dr. Carson and other researchers tested students’ ability to 44)______  out irrelevant 

information when 45)______ to a barrage of stimuli. The more creative the students were thought to be, 

determined by a questionnaire on past achievements, 46)______ more trouble they had ignoring the 

unwanted data. A reduced ability to filter and set 47)______, the scientists concluded, could contribute to 

original thinking. 

This phenomenon, Dr. Carson said, is often 48)______ to a decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex. 

Studies have found that people who 49)______ an injury or disease that lowered activity in that region 

became more interested in creative pursuits. 

There is a word for what 50)______ when the mind is able to assimilate data and put it in its proper place 

— wisdom. 

 

21) A. need 

B. strive 

C. insist 

D. tend 

22) A. disturbing 

B. declining 

C. belittling 

D. distracting 

23) A. Since 

B. Instead 

C. While 

D. Despite 

24) A. clutter 

B. herd 

C. flock 

D. group 

25) A. aims 

B. cuts 

C. strikes 

D. blows 

26) this 

B. which 

C. that 

D. what 

27) A. Yet 

B. However 

C. Nonetheless 

D. Whereas 

28) A. amount 

B. number 

C. growth 

D. raise 

29) A. takers 

B. undertakers 

C. subjects 

D. objects 

30) A. 

plough 

B. stroke 

C. elbow 

D. stick 

31) A. what 

B. what do 

C. of what 

D. of what do 

32) A. to point 

B. in hand 

C. at large 

D. in case 

33) A. up 

B. over 

C. through 

D. for 

34) A. as such 

B. almost as 

C. as if 

D. so that 

35) A. data 

B. fact 

C. knowing 

D. topic 

36) A. soaked 

B. used 

C. absorbed 

D. received 

37) A. turn 

B. do 

C. yield 

D. keep 

38) A. seemingly 

B. closely 

C. much 

D. mostly 

39) A. put 

B. go 

C. take 

D. draw 

40) A. the other 

B. others’ 

B. other’s 

D. another 

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41) A. load 

B. time 

C. length 

D. span 

42) A. pertaining 

B. assuming 

C. liking 

D. concerning 

43) A. characteristic 

B. character 

C. characteristics 

D. characterization 

44) A. stay 

B. hush 

C. switch 

D. tune 

45) A. confronted 

B. exposed 

C. faced 

D. approached 

46) A. much 

B. so 

C. the 

D. then 

47) A. scores 

B. priorities 

C. routine 

D. importance 

48) A. linked 

B. involved 

C. regarded 

D. associated 

49) A. suffered 

B. cured 

C. healed 

D. outlived 

50) A. effects 

B. results 

C. grades 

D. causes 

3.2. questions  51 - 60  

Read the sentences below (numbered 51 - 60). In each sentence there are four underlined words or 
phrases (marked A, B, C and D). One of the elements in each sentence is incorrect. Identify that 
element. Mark your answers on answer sheet 1.  
 
51) A World War II veteran plans to travel to Japan next week to request [A] for an apology  

[B] for that country’s [C] treatment of prisoners of war but he is [D] unlikely to receive it. 

 

52) A report [A] issued by the U.N. Nuclear Agency says Iran’s [B] suspected research into  

[C] development nuclear warheads remains a matter of serious concern needing [D] substantive 

explanations. 

 

53) Dr Indiana Jones [A] squares off against Soviet agents in the jungle as he [B] attempts to  

[C] uncover the mystery of a crystal skull believed to [D] holding extraterrestrial powers. 

 

54) Pluto is [A] any longer considered a planet because a [B] fully-fledged planet is large enough to  

[C] have become round due to the force of its own gravity and has to dominate the [D] neighbourhood. 

 

55)  Researchers have [A] long been measuring a global warming trend, but it is in [B] the Arctic  

[C] which temperatures have risen [D] the most. 

 

56) Sometimes, when  tropical cyclones make [A] landfall, they can create [B] highly winds,  

[C] heavy rains, 

tornadoes

 and they are also [D] known to kill people and destroy cities. 

 

57) The richest vein of [A] readily available evidence about the nature of grammatical competence  

[B] lays in native [C] speakers’ intuitions about the interpretation of phrases in their mother [D] tongue. 

 

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58) Know what [A] are you going to do [B] each and every day, [C] have it written down, even write  

[D] an agenda on the board.  

 

59) I can [A] hardly think of anything more frustrating than [B] being called to a meeting and [C] not 

being able to [D] have found find the papers you need.  

 

60) Not only [A] he refused to have [B] dealings with the British Prime Minister but bypassed him  

[C] altogether and dealt [D] separately with pro-American cabinet ministers. 

 

DO TESTS 3.3, 3.4  and TEST 4 ON ANSWER SHEET 2 

 

3.  questions 61 – 80 
Read the text below and complete each numbered gap with one suitable word. Write your answers 
on answer sheet 2 
  

 

When did you last buy a really great book? I don't 61) ______ great in the sense of Dostoevsky or 

Dickens, but great because it was  something you felt  you 62) _____ discovered for yourself, 

something that was special because you didn't feel 63) _____ though you ought to have read it 

already.  Such books, for most people, are 64) ______ and far between.  They may be 65) ______ 

published or decades old; fiction or non-fiction, historical or contemporary. The trouble is,  

66) _____ you have finished one special book, how do you find the 67) _____?  

This could be 68) _____ BookRabbit (bookrabbit.com)  comes 69) _____. This new website,  

70) _____ is launched  today, intends  to combine a sense of community with the pleasure of 

browsing a really good book shop. Rather 71) ______ wondering how you can find a worthy 

follow-up to War and Peace, you can see how other  readers rate the books they read next, and 

scour the bookshelves of people who own the 72) _____ or similar  novels to you. When you find 

a BookRabbit  member 73) _____ taste is similar to your 74) ______ you can find out what 

they've got 75) ______ you're missing.  

So far this  sounds like a marvellous idea – a free, educated, guiding hand. But how does it  

76) _____ from  established sites? On 77) _____ American behemoth Amazon, readers can 

already make lists to recommend their favourites. The Library Thing, a lively online community 

of readers and reviewers, boasts that its members have 26 million books on their shelves. 

BookRabbit, which lies somewhere between the two, hopes to harness the power of its worlwide 

community more effectively than 78) _____ of them.  It's widely accepted that by 79) ______ the 

most effective form of advertising is 80) _____ of mouth, which is particularly relevant to the 

book market.  

    

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3.4. questions 81 – 90   
Identify the unnecessary words in the text below. In every line there is one unnecessary word 
which does not fit the context. On answer sheet 2 write down the words you have identified next 
to the appropriate line number.   
 

 

81 Savour  the colourful city dweller that never sleeps. Food shopping and nightlife, some of the great  

82 passions  of today's international traveller, find out glorious expression in modern Singapore.  In this  

83 compact island-state, the best of their all is always within easy reach. The city's heady mix of nightlife  

84 and entertainment is surely unrivalled. You can shop till you drop dead   and then enjoy wonderful  

85 dining room until well into the evening. Singapore's cuisine is a glorious cross-cultural mix of Chinese,  

86 Indian, Malay, and  Eurasian influences, with ingenious to use of spices and the freshest of seafood.   

87 After an exclusive  sunset dinner aboard a yacht at Lido, or more remarkably still nature,  70 meters  

88 above the sea wave in a cable-car pod, you will   have an exciting Sinaporean night  ahead of you.  

89 There are world-class shows off and performances, dusk-to-dawn dance parties and a mighty array  

90  of nightspots. By some day, there is wonderful shopping to enjoy here in the picturesque ethnic enclaves.   

 

 

Test 4  

 
Write a short essay  (in about 250 words) on the following topic: Is it a good idea to combine work 
and university study? 
Present arguments for and against.  
You may refer to the reading passage from test 2. 
 
Write your text on answer sheet  2.  

 

 

This is the end of the test 

 
 

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TEST PRZYKŁADOWY Z JĘZYKA ANGIELSKIEGO NA POZIOMIE C1   
TEKST DO TESTU 1 (rozumienie ze słuchu)
 
 

I would like to talk today about  modern technology and how it affects  the way our brain 

works. Human identity, the idea that defines each and every one of us, could be facing an 

unprecedented crisis. It is a crisis that would threaten long-held notions of who we are, what we 

do and how we behave. It goes right to the heart – or the head -  of us all. This crisis could 

reshape how we interact with each other, alter what makes us happy, and modify our capacity for 

reaching our full potential as individuals. And it's caused by one simple fact: the human brain, 

that most sensitive of organs, is under threat from the  modern world. 

 

Of course, there are benefits form technological progress, but there are great dangers as 

well, and I believe that we are seeing some of those today. I'm a neuroscientist and my day-to-day 

research at Oxford University strives for an even greater understanding, and therefore maybe, one 

day, a cure for Alzheimer's disease.  But one vital fact I have learnt is that the brain is not the 

unchanging organ that we might imagine. It not only goes on developing, changing and, in some 

tragic cases, eventually deteriorating with age, it is also substantially shaped by what we do to it 

and by the experience of daily life. When I say 'shaped', I'm not talking figuratively or 

metaphorically; I'm talking literally. At a microcellular level, the infinitely complex network of 

nerve cells that make up the constituent parts of the brain actually change in response to certain 

experiences and stimuli. The brain, in other words, is malleable (flexible), not just in early 

childhood but right up to early adulthood, and in certain instances, beyond.  

 

The surrounding environment  has  a huge impact both on the way our brain develops and 

how that brain is transformed into a unique human mind. Of course, there's nothing new about 

that: human brains have been changing,  adapting and developing in response to outside stimuli 

for centuries.  What prompted me to  deliver this lecture is that the pace of change in the outside 

environment and in the development of new technologies has increased dramatically. This will 

affect our brains over the next 100 years in ways we might never have imagined.  

 

Our brains are under the influence of an ever-expanding world of new technology; 

multichannel television, video games, MP3 players, the Internet, wireless network, Bluetooth 

links – the list goes on and on. All these electronic devices have an impact  on the micro-cellular 

structure and complex biochemistry of our brains. And that, in turn, affects our personality, our 

behaviour and our characteristics.  In short, the modern world could well be altering out human 

identity.  

 

Anyone, who doubts the plasticity  of the adult brain should consider a startling piece of 

research conducted at Harvard Medical School. There, a group of adult volunteers, none of whom 

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could previously play the piano, were split into three groups. The first group were taken into a 

room with a piano and given intensive piano practice for five days. The second group were taken 

into an identical room with an identical piano – but had nothing to do with the instrument at all. 

And the third group were taken into an identical room with an identical piano and were then told 

that for the next five days they had to just imagine they were practising piano exercises.  

 

The resultant brain scans were extraordinary. Not surprisingly, the brains of those who 

simply sat in the same room as the piano hadn't changed at all. Equally unsurprising was the fact 

that those who had performed the piano exercises saw marked structural changes in the area of 

the brain associated with finger movement. But what was truly astonishing was that the group 

who had merely imagined doing the piano exercises saw changes in brain structure that were 

almost as distinct as those that that had actually had lessons. “The power of imagination” is not a 

metaphor; it's real, and has a physical basis in your brain. 

 

If something as innocent as imagining a piano lesson can bring about a visible physical 

change in brain structure, and therefore some presumably minor change in the way  the aspiring 

player performs, what changes might long sessions playing violent computer games bring about? 

It's already pretty clear that the screen-based, two dimensional world that so many teenagers and 

growing number of adults  choose to inhabit is producing changes in behaviour.    Attention spans 

are shorter, personal communication skills are reduced and there's a marked reduction in the 

ability to think abstractly. This games-driven generation interpret the world through screen 

shaped eyes. It's almost as if something hasn't really happened until it has been posted on 

Facebook, Bebo or YouTube.  Add to that the huge amount of personal information now stored 

on the internet -  CVs, telephone numbers, credit ratings, holiday pictures – and it's sometimes 

difficult to know where the boundaries of our individuality actually lie.  Only one thing is certain: 

those boundaries are weakening. And they could weaken further still if, and when, neurochip 

technology becomes more widely available.  But even today, modern technology is already 

producing a marked shift in the way we think and behave, particularly among the young. I 

mustn't, however, be too censorious, because what I'm talking about is  pleasure. For some, 

pleasure means wine, women and song; for others, more recently, sex, drugs and rock'nroll; and 

for millions today, endless hours at the computer console. I'm certainly not saying all video 

games are dangerous and addictive, and I genuinely welcome the new generation of 'brain-

training' computer games aimed at keeping the little grey cells active for longer. What if we could 

create an environment that  would allow the brain to develop in a way that was seen to be of 

universal benefit?