Seminar 7

Read the text below and complete the following tasks.

You may remember King Kong on the Empire State Building in the film. Ever since the
Tower of Babel, man has liked to think big in terms of building. Whether it is by
constructing pyramids, ziggurats or palaces, he has had an urge to reach for the sky and it
is this that has led to the twentieth/twenty-first century craze for skyscrapers. (1) In
order for modern skyscrapers to be a practical possibility, however, something had to
happen. That was the invention of the lift, by Elisha Graves Otis, in 1854. Three years
later, it was put to commercial use in New York and buildings higher than five storeys
became feasible for the first time.
(2) In 1899, however, the Park Row office block was constructed with a steel frame,
and this led to new techniques where the form of the building is skeletal, with the main
loading being located in the central core and the external curtain wall constructed of
lightweight materials, for instance glass and aluminium. This substitution of lighter
materials for concrete made it possible for architects to design buildings of 400 to 500m
in height. (3)
Getting higher and higher with the development of relevant technology, skyscrapers are a
fair indication of economic trends, going up during the boom years only to come to a
standstill when recessions cut off funds. For this reason, the 1980s heralded a wave of
skyscraper building while the less promising 1990s slowed it down. Furthermore, the
bulk of the building work has moved from its home in the USA (Chicago being the
birthplace of the skyscraper) to Asia, reflecting the new power, prestige and confidence of
the growing tiger economies. (4)
The New World is, nevertheless, fighting back against this competition from the Pacific
Rim, with plans for the Chicago South Dearborn project to be completed by 2003.
Europe, on the other hand, seems to have opted out of the race altogether, the planned
London Millennium Tower being scaled down from a projected 486m to 386m because
otherwise people would consider it too tall.
Europes current highest building, Commerzbank headquarters in Frankfurt, is, at 261m,
no match for the American and Asian giants, and neither is Londons Canary Wharf.
1. Four sentences have been removed from the text. Select the appropriate sentences
for each gap in the text. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. 4
points
A. Having said that, it should be borne in mind that the tallest building in the world is
currently Petronas Towers, above Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and that it is also the tallest
concrete structure in the world.
B. Nevertheless, it is no mean feat to equip skyscrapers with renewable sources of energy.
C. Indeed, thrusting aggressively into the sky these structures seem to mimic our passion
for space exploration.
D. The first high-rise constructions were not skyscrapers as we would recognise them
today, but merely taller than average buildings.
E. It is therefore no wonder that Kuala Lumpurs Petronas Towers superseded Chicagos
Sears Tower.
2. Give the synonyms of the following words. 6 points

A. urge
B. feasible
C. core
3. Sum up the text in about 50 words. 10 points
4. For the following questions, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits
best according to the text. 6 points
1. The author states that people like to build big because
A. it compensates for their inability to travel in space.
B. it is rooted in our history.
C. it seems to be an innate desire.
D. they like to live in pyramids and palaces.
2. The modern skyscraper was first made possible by
A. a device invented in the nineteenth century.
B. buildings more than 5 storeys high.
C. the steel-frame building technique.
D. a commercial building in New York.
3. Skyscrapers are a mirror of
A. the tiger economies.
B. Asian power.
C. building trends.
D. economic tendencies.
5. Comment on the following in about 100 words: ... Ever since the Tower of Babel,
man has liked to think big in terms of building. 4 points
6. Choose the correct form to complete the following sentences. 4 points
1. Thats strange I sent the parcel by courier, so you.........have received it by now.
A. must C. should
B. couldnt D. neednt
2. Oh no ! It looks like my rucksack......behind in the scramble to get on the bus.
A. has left C. had left
B. has been left D. had been left
3. I wish you......when Im telling you something important.
A. wont interrupt C. didnt interrupt
B. wouldnt interrupt D. hadnt interrupted
4. ........these new regulations to come into force, our work would become much more
difficult.
A. if C. Had
B. should D. Were
7. Use the words in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits best in
the gap. 6 points
1. He is......sorry for everything he did and wants you to forgive him. TRUE

2. Mrs. Jones is at risk of having a heart attack and must reduce his.... of fatty foods.
CONSUME
3. The ........seems to be working Sandras getting better! TREAT
8. Fill in the gaps with only one suitable word. 10 points
Searching for 1. ... one wants can be time-consuming, so 2. ... bother? Is there, for
example, any financial reason to make it 3. ... ones while? The answer, in many cases, is
yes. An oak door in good condition will be considerably 4. ... expensive than a new one,
even 5. ...it is only a few years old. However, the majority of clients of reclamations yards
are on 6. ... lookout for items that simply cant be found these days, 7. ... as stone
fireplaces several centuries old. Items like this 8. ..., of course, be expensive, but there are
a lot of people who do not 9. ... paying a high price for a second-hand fireplace that is, 10.
... their view, better than new.
9. Most of the following lines contain an extra word. Write the extra word on your
exam sheet. Put a tick to the numbers indicating a correct line. 6 points
If you are giving a presentation for or planning to confront 1__________
your boss to ask him for a salary increase, wear red. It will make you 2__________
feel more confident, so you will have come across as more assertive. 3__________
The colour red can be intimidating however, so avoid taking it if 4___________
you need it to be accessible to your subordinates. On those days when 5___________
you have a lot to get through and you need to focus your attention on the 6___________
task in hand, choose green.
10. Rewrite the sentences using the word given so that the meaning stays the same.
4 points
1. Im sick and tired of your pathetic excuses, he said ENOUGH
He said .........their pathetic excuses.
2. As he is a close friend, I naturally assumed that she would help me out. GRANTED
As he is a close friend, I ......................... she would help me out.
3. I would certainly recommend David for the job. HESITATION
I ................................. David for the job.
4. It was wrong of me to have insulted her. RUDE
I .....................................to her.