READING AND WRITING EXAM 8TH GRADE

READING

Read the text. Then read the sentences and choose the correct option, A or B.

About Ray Mears

Survival courses have become very popular in the last few years. You can now find courses that teach you how to make your own shelter, build a fire, get water, find and cook food just using the things around you. One reason for the popularity of these courses is Ray Mears. Ray Mears has been an expert on bushcraft and survival for over 20 years. Through his many TV shows and his books on the subject, he has become well known throughout the world.

Ray grew up in the country. At a young age, he was interested in wildlife and he learned to track foxes and other outdoor skills. He enjoyed camping outside, but never had enough money to buy expensive tents and camping equipment. So he had to make his own equipment by adapting what was around him. Ray never realized that his hobby would become his life’s work.

At school, Ray was greatly influenced by one of his teachers who taught him to look at the world in a different way. He used to spend hours in his local library reading every bit of information about survival that he could find. He began to relearn the skills that were thousands of years old.

As he grew older, Ray started traveling all over the world learning new skills. He was taught hunting and tracking skills by local people who had learned these skills themselves as children. He has traveled to many countries, including Canada, New Zealand, Samoa, and Finland, developing and widening his huge range of knowledge.

In 1983, Ray started his company, Woodlore, where he teaches both military and ordinary people the skills of survival. According to Ray, true bushcraft is about being practical and resourceful and it provides an escape from modern life. He sees himself as a guide helping people to discover the wonders of the natural world.


1. 1 Survival courses ___ popular right now.

READING

2 The courses teach you how to survive using ___.

READING

3 Ray Mears has been a survival expert for ___.

READING

4 Ray Mears grew up in ___.

READING

5. As a young boy, he learned how to track ___.

READING

6 He used to ___ his own equipment.

READING

7 At that time, he was greatly influenced by one of his ___.

READING

8 Ray has sold a lot of books and made a lot of ___.

READING

9 His company is called ___.

READING

10 His aim in life is to help people discover more about ___.

READING

10 His aim in life is to help people discover more about ___.

WRITING

Complete the reported speech with the correct words in parentheses.
1 “I love soccer.”

Mike said that he _____________ soccer.

WRITING

2 “Please stop writing.”
The teacher told us _____________ writing.

WRITING

3 “Are you going to be late?”
She asked me _____________ going to be late.

WRITING

4 “We don’t like horror movies.”
Laura said they _____________ like horror movies.

WRITING

5 “Please could you leave?”
We _____________ them to leave.

WRITING

6 “We are going away.”
He _____________ that they were going away.

WRITING

7 “I won’t make a pizza.”
He said he _____________ make a pizza.

WRITING

8 “I’ve done my homework.”
Eleanor said she _____________ her homework.

WRITING

9 “Where did Mark go?”
Frances asked where Mark _____________.

WRITING

10 “Don’t run!”
She told them _____________.

WRITING

Imagine you saw a robbery and the thief got away. Write an account of what happened. Think of these things:

• Where were you, and what were you doing?
• What did you see?
• What should/shouldn’t you have done?
• What would/wouldn’t you do if something like this happened to you again?