B1 Reading Practice Test 2

When Burak's family moved to a bigger flat in Gaziantep, he volunteered to clear out the attic. Behind a pile of old boxes, he found a dusty black case. Inside was a violin with a small crack in the wood. "That belonged to your grandfather," his mother said when he showed it to her. "He played it at weddings when he was young. Then his hands became stiff, and he stopped." Burak had never heard his grandfather play. He had only seen him sitting quietly by the window, drinking tea. The next morning, Burak took the violin to a repair shop near the bazaar. The owner, a patient man called Mr Demir, said he could fix the crack, but it would take two weeks. "Do you play?" he asked. "No," Burak admitted, "but I'd like to try." When the violin came back, Burak's grandfather was visiting for the weekend. Burak handed it to him without saying anything. The old man held it carefully, put it under his chin and closed his eyes. Slowly, a simple melody filled the room. Burak's mother wiped her eyes. "Would you teach me?" Burak asked. His grandfather smiled. "My hands are slow now, but if you practise every day, I'll show you everything I know."

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world, but its history began with a plant. According to a well-known legend, a goat herder in Ethiopia noticed that his goats became very lively after eating the red berries of a certain bush. He tried them himself and felt more awake. Whether this story is true or not, coffee plants certainly come from Ethiopia. By the fifteenth century, people in Yemen were drinking coffee, which was made by boiling the roasted seeds. Merchants carried it north to Cairo and then to the Ottoman Empire. In Istanbul, the first coffeehouses opened in the middle of the sixteenth century. They quickly became popular places where people met to talk, play games and listen to music or poetry. The Turkish way of making coffee, in a small pot over low heat, is still famous today and is recognised by UNESCO as part of cultural heritage. Coffee reached Europe in the seventeenth century. At first, some people were suspicious of it, but soon coffeehouses appeared in cities such as Venice, London and Vienna. Today, coffee is grown in more than fifty countries, and millions of people depend on it for their living.

Greenfield Secondary School. Annual Science Fair. Information for students. This year's Science Fair will take place on Friday the twenty-first of March in the main hall. Parents and local residents are invited to visit between four and six o'clock in the afternoon, so please make sure your project is ready by three. Who can take part? All students in Years 7 to 10 can enter, either alone or in teams of up to three. If you would like to work with others, you should register as a team. What kind of project? Your project must answer a question, for example, "Which material keeps a drink hot for the longest time?" or "Does music affect how plants grow?" You will need to explain your method, show your results and say what you found out. Projects which involve dangerous chemicals or live animals are not allowed. What do you need to bring? A display board is provided for each project, but you have to bring your own materials. If you want to use electricity, tell Mr Evans in advance so that he can arrange the extension cables. How to enter: hand in the form to your science teacher by Friday the twenty-eighth of February. Late entries cannot be accepted, because we need to plan the space in the hall. Prizes will be awarded in three categories: Most Creative Idea, Best Experiment and Best Presentation. Good luck!