For questions 13-24, 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). In the exam you write your answers IN CAPITAL LETTERS on a separate answer sheet.

Tip Strip   · Read the text for general understanding. · Most of the gaps can be filled by grammatical words, not topic vocabulary, · Decide which type of word each gap needs, e.g. preposition, relative pronoun, conjunction, verb, adverb,etc. · Look out for fixed expressions, dependent prepositions after certain words, and linking words and phrases. · The word you choose must make sense in the context of the text as a whole. So when you've finished the task, read through and check that the text makes complete sense with your answers in place. Question 16: This verb combines with 'up' after the pronoun to make a phrasal verb. Question 19: Which word will complete the comparative expression? Question 20: Which preposition will complete the common expression? Question 22: Which preposition is used before 'average'?

(0) w e r e               13                       14                       15                       30                       17                       18                       19                       20                       21                       22                       23                       24

 

 

The Birth of YouTube

In 2005, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, two software designers from Silicon Valley in California, (0)_____ invited to a dinner party. Several people had brought their camcorders to the party and these people were complaining about (13)_____ difficult it was to share home videos online. That was when Chad and Steve came up (14)_____ the idea for YouTube, the site which makes (15)_____ easy to upload home videos onto the Internet. They formed a company, borrowed some money and (16)_____ themselves up in business.

It turned (17)_____ that millions of people already had short home video clips that they thought it (18)_____ be fun to share with other enthusiasts around the world. Launched in December 2005, YouTube soon contained more (19)_____ a million short video clips. People were uploading 8000 clips a day, and watching three million a day. They had mostly heard about the site through word (20)_____ mouth, email and hyperlink, and eighty percent of the clips had (21)_____ made by amateurs.

So why was YouTube such an immediate success? Researchers found that, (22)_____ average, people were spending fifteen minutes on the site during each visit, (23)_____ was enough time to view several short funny clips. In (24)_____ words, they were using YouTube to give them a little break from their work or study.