(Please write your answers in the given box.)

1. Sample Audio 1

 

Eventually Shiamak asked me to join his (1)  . So at 16, I had my first ‘real’ job. I was being paid to hang out with a bunch of cool kids, who shared my love for dancing. The academy taught me my first lessons in  (2) . I understood discipline and learnt that you need to put in hours of work behind the scenes to shine for just a few minutes on stage. Shiamak taught us to test our limits, go beyond them and discover we were capable of much more. He also taught us to be fearless. I learnt to drop my (3)  , which made it easier for me to express my creative side in front of people.

I think I got lucky as a kid. Back then there was a sense of ‘I can do no wrong’. My attitude has obviously changed since then. I am a lot more careful now, but I must (4)  that I miss being fearless. Although I’ve made many mistakes, I’m still around. And if you have the feeling that you can (5)  the world, know that nothing replaces pure hard work and grit.

Show Answer

 1. troupe 2. professionalism 3. inhibitions 4. admit 5. conquer

 

2. Sample Audio 2

 

At the Harare International Airport (1)  , I struck up a conversation with a lady. She was Canadian and worked for the United Nations. I mentioned to her my plans of spending a few days in Lusaka before heading to Kinshasa. Before (2)  , we exchanged business cards and said our goodbyes.

As I prepared to leave for Kinshasa, the hotel (3)   a message from my office in Singapore, instructing me to cancel my travel to Zaire, where a bloody political (4)   had broken out. Shaken, I called my office and discovered that Mariam S. Pal, the lady from Harare airport, had received early information and reached out. The situation in Zaire was (5)  . There was looting and mayhem, where civilians were killed and injured. Of course, I called her as soon as I returned home to thank her for saving my life.

Show Answer

 1. lounge 2. boarding 3. delivered 4. unrest 5 .horrific  

 

3. Sample Audio 3

 

The human body naturally produces free radicals and the antioxidants to (1)   their damaging effects. However, in most cases, free radicals far outnumber the naturally occurring antioxidants. In order to maintain the balance, a (2)   supply of external sources of antioxidants is necessary in order to obtain the maximum benefits of antioxidants. Antioxidants benefit the body by (3)   and removing the free radicals from the (4)  . A new review published in the British Journal of Pharmacology reinforced an emerging explanation for why vitamins E and C, along with other antioxidant supplements, don’t prevent disease and may sometimes even cause harm. Oxygen-free radicals-the molecules that antioxidants neutralize -aren’t all bad. Although they can (5)   disease, they’re also essential to immune defense and (6)   synthesis. The amount of antioxidants found in a balanced diet appears beneficial, but getting a surplus from a supplement risks interfering with them.

Show Answer

 1. counteract 2. continual 3. neutralizing 4. bloodstream 5. trigger 6. hormone

 

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EXERCISE-1                                                                                                                                                        EXERCISE-3