PAU A very gifted family

A very gifted family                          

Oxford is one of the most prestigious universities in the world and most students in Britain would be more than happy to begin their studies there at the age of eighteen.  That would be too long for Sufiah Yusof to wait, however!  Sufiah is only twelve but she's just got the top grade in her further maths exam and in a few weeks she's going to start at Oxford.

Is this unusual?  Not in Sufiah's family.  In fact, her sister Aisha, who's fourteen, and her brother Iskander, who's ten, are also considering going to Oxford.  The children's father, Farook, who's a freelance researcher, is quite certain that Iskander, who also did astonishingly well in his maths and further maths exam, is mature enough both intellectually and emotionally to benefit from study at university.  Indeed, he maintains that any delay at this stage might well be a source of frustration for his son.

Nor is this just a family of future Einsteins.  Last year, Abbi, the eldest  child, who's concentrated more on his sporting abilities than his intellectual interests, reached the last sixteen of the British under-fourteen tennis championships.  Meanwhile, not to be outdone, the baby of the family, three-year-old Zuleika, has a reading age of seven and is already showing precocious skill at ball games.

(Comprehension (3 points: 1 per question)

Answer questions 1-3 according to the information given in the text.  Use your own words.

1.       What is special about the Yusofs?

2.       What are the children good at?

3.       Why is Farook worried about Iskander?

LEXICON    (2 points: 0.5 points per question)

1.       Find one word in the text that means “cause, origin”.

2.       Find in the text the word which has the following definition: “time lost by inaction'.

3.       Give one opposite of “future” (line 14).

4.     Find one opposite in the text for “doubtful”.

Grammar (1 points: 0.5 points per question)

1.       Put the following sentence into the passive voice: Nobody has helped the children.

2.       Put the following sentence into reported speech: Farook said, “My daughter will become a scientist.”

3.       Join the following sentences with a relative pronoun.  Farook is usually abroad. His children are exceptional.

4.       Complete this sentence with the correct form of the adjective and any other necessary words.

                    Who is (intelligent) of them?

      Production (3 points).

Write a composition (120 words).  Choose one of the following topics. Specify your option.

1.       Does intelligence make people happier?

2.       Exceptional people in my life.