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Extra Exam Practice

Name

Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

POST A SECRET
I

Have you got a secret that you have never shared with anyone? Thanks to a popular website called PostSecret, you can now
get your secret off your chest without actually risking anything. All you have to do is write your secret on one side of a
self-made postcard and go to the nearest post office to send it. You remain anonymous. If your postcard appeals to Frank
Warren, the creator of the website, he will post it on his blog, where it will be read by millions of visitors.

II

The secrets on PostSecret are extremely varied. Some are funny, many are sad and some are philosophical. One postcard
said: I still havent told my father that I have the same disease that killed my mother. Some secrets are sent on objects
other than postcards. For example, Warren received one secret printed on a cup from the popular coffeehouse chain,
Starbucks. It read: When customers are rude to me, I give them decaffeinated coffee.

III

The PostSecret project started in 2004 when Warren was preparing an art exhibition. He decided to print out postcards
inviting strangers to submit a true secret that they had never shared with anyone. Initially, he received about 100 postcards,
which he then used to form his exhibition. To Warrens surprise, the postcards kept coming long after the exhibition was
over. In 2007, Warren began posting some of the most creative and interesting submissions on his blog

IV

Today, PostSecret is one of the most popular blogs in the world, with an estimated 2.3 million visitors a month. Warren gets
an average of 200 postcards a day, and to date, he has received more than 100,000 cards.

The site does not directly generate profit since it does not allow advertisements. However, Warren is making money from
books that he has published and from travelling art exhibitions which include selections of the best postcards he has
received. As more and more postcards continue to arrive at his family home, it seems that Warren certainly holds the key to
one important secret: the secret of success.

Choose the correct answer.

1. Secrets submitted to PostSecret must be .
a. sent by post
b. e-mailed to the site
c. unusual

........................................................................................ .

2. The PostSecret project was originally .

a. a website
b. a blog
c. an art exhibition

Complete the sentences using the information given

in the text. Use your own words as far as possible.
1. Thanks to PostSecret, when you share your secret, you
dont have to ......................................................................
2. A postcard is posted on the site if Frank Warren ..............
........................................................................................ .
3. The site itself is not profitable because .............................
........................................................................................ .

Decide if the following sentences are true (T) or false

(F). Find evidence in the text to justify your answers.
1. Warren expected his idea to catch on.
..................................................................................
..................................................................................
2. Warren has made money thanks to the project.
..................................................................................
..................................................................................

Find words or expressions in the text that mean:

1.
2.
3.
4.

illness (paragraph II)

at first (paragraph III)
so far (paragraph IV)
make (paragraph V)

Write a composition of about 100-150 words. Choose

one option.
1. Describe an occasion when you found out about
a certain secret.
2. In your opinion, why is an Internet site where people
can post their secrets so popular?