Use of english Part I

Read the text below and decide which answer (А, В, С or D) best fits each gap. There is an example at the beginning.

0 A. reporting B. quoting C. according D. informing

Fingernails growing faster

People's fingernails and toenails, (0) C, to a recent study, are nowadays growing more quickly. Research … out (1) at the University of North Carolina indicates that the speed at which human nails are growing has increased by (2) … to 25 per cent over the last 70 years.

The results of the study show that the (3) … human fingernail now grows about 3.5 mm a month, (4) … with just 3 mm seven decades ago. Toenail growth, (5) … only about 2 mm per month, was also up on the figure (6) … in a similar survey done 70 years ago.

Researchers (7) … the rapid increase down to changes in lifestyle, particularly the greater ( 8 ) …. of the importance of regular exercise and a healthy diet. This, they point out, is in (9) .„ with similar trends in the height and weight of present-day adults. Interestingly, it appears that nails (10) … to grow fastest in warmer conditions, with the quickest growth (11) … among young people, and men. The fastest-growing nail is on the middle finger, while that on the little finger is (12) … far the slowest, at only a fraction over 3 mm each month.

1 A. taken	B. carried	C. studied	D. worked
2 A. near	B. just	C. close	D. next
3 A. average	B. medium	C. common	D. standard
4 A. opposed	B. measured	C. related	D. compared
5 A. although	B. despite	C. however	D. nevertheless
6 A. achieved	B. concluded	C. arrived	D. obtained
7 A. set	B. write	C. put	D. say
8 A. belief	B. information	C. familiarity	D. awareness
9 A. way	B. rule	C. line	D. case
10 A. tend	B. lean	C. head	D. aim
11 A. pace	B. rate	C. speed	D. step
12 A. by	B. so	C. as	D. too

Part II

For questions 1-12, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0).

A short history of tattooing

Tattoos, (0) which some people call 'body art', have become more and more popular in recent years. In (1) …… of the pain caused by having a needle make hundreds of holes in their skin, millions of people (2) ….. vary widely in age and background are nowadays

having their bodies decorated with ink in all kinds of ways.

Many of today's young people, (3) … parents were the first generation to experiment with tattoos, see it as a way of expressing their individuality, and in (4) … to do this, they are constantly looking for new styles and designs. (5) …. to this increasing demand, tattoo studios have appeared in many towns and villages.

(6) … people tend to think of it as a modern practice, tattooing has in fact been around for a long time. There is evidence of tattoos being worn in Siberia over 4,000 years ago, as (7) … as in Ancient Egypt at that time, and it is thought to have existed in Japan 10,000 years ago. Even (8) … , it was not until the late 18^th century, (9) … Captain James Cook sailed to Polynesia, that Europeans took an interest.

It was on the island of Tahiti, (10) … tattooing had an important role in society, that Cook and his crew first saw tattooed men and women, and (11) … of that, the English word comes from the Tahitian word tatau. Ever since then, sailors have had tattoos done, often (12) … show the distant places they have visited.