FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
Written Exam Writing Exam
Total
STUDENT’S FIRST NAME AND LAST NAME:
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STUDENT CLASS:
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STUDENT ID:
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TOTAL TIME:
120 mins (only for written exam part)
SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
PART I. LISTENING
Points: 35 pts
Total:________
A. You will listen to a short news three times and answer the questions below.
Please respond all the questions with your own sentences and DO NOT try to
copy the same sentences from the listening and please write your own sentences
in full sentences. (18 points)
Questions
1. Who is Chesly B. Sullenberger III? What is his job? (2 points)
2. What is Sullenberger’s role in this event? What did he do? (2 points)
3. How many people are there on the airplane other than the pilot? (2 points)
4. What happened to these people at the end of the incident? (2 points)
5. Please tell us about Sullenberger’s educational background. (2 points)
6. What is this news about? Please write in detail about what you have understood
from the news. (at least 8-10 sentences) (8 points)
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SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
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SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
B. You will listen to a short news report three times and answer the questions
below according to the news. Please respond all the questions with your own
sentences and DO NOT try to copy the same sentences from the listening and
please write your own sentences in full sentences. (17 pts)
Questions
1. Where does this incident take place? (2 points)
2. What is the name of the woman and how old is she? (2 points)
3. What was the woman trying to do? (2 points)
4. How did the authorities notice what the women were trying to do? (2 points)
5. How many people are there in this incident and what are their nationalities? (2
points)
6. How was the problem resolved? (2 points)
7. Please summarize the news in your own sentences. Please provide details as much
as you can. (8-10 sentences) (5 points)
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SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
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SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
PART II. READING
Points: 33 pts
Total:________
A. You will read the text 1 and answer the following questions according to the text 1.
Please do not copy and paste from the text. Create your own sentences based on
what you have understood from the text 1. (17 points)
Questions
1. According to the text, what are some factors that are useful for choosing a brand
name? (3 points)
2. What are some of the problems of finding a good product name? Please describe the
problems in your own sentences. (3 points)
3. How does the naming process work step by step? Please explain each step in details.
(4 points)
4. What does the example of the brand name “Exxon”, which was invented by Esso
Oil Company, show? (3 points)
5. What is the main idea of this text? Please write in your own sentences. (4 points)
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SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
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SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
B. You will read the text 2 and answer the following questions according to the text 2.
Please do not copy and paste from the text. Create your own sentences based on
what you have understood from the text 2. (16 points)
Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is the issue that is dicsussed in this text? (3 points)
What is the main idea of this text? (3 points)
Please explain the concept of ‘summer melt’ in your own sentences. (3 points)
Please give some information about the program conducted by Professor Castleman
and Professor Page? What is it about? What is the result? (4 points)
5. Please write a short summary of the text? (3 points)
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SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
Reading Text 1
Creap coffee creamer is a big seller in Japan, and Bimbo bread is extremely popular
in Mexico, but people in English-speaking countries would be unlikely to buy these
products. Why? Because their names have unfortunate meanings in English. As companies
go global, it is becoming increasingly important to find brand names that can travel from
country to country.
According to Bridget Ruffell, a director of The Brand Naming Co., which
specializes in creating brand names for clients, finding the right name for an international
brand is expensive, time-consuming and full of difficulties. In addition to the problems of
meaning and pronunciation, all names have to be legally registered, which involves long
and expensive searches to make sure that they have not already been taken by another
company.
Finding the right product name and avoiding the wrong ones is so important that
The Brand Naming Co. has created a “black museum” of products with names that make
them virtually unsellable in English-speaking countries. For instance, there’s “Nuclear”, a
brand of clothes whitener in Spain. The Brand Naming Co. also cautioned about a Turkish
cookie called “Bum” and a Mexican beer called “Nude”, although consumers in Ankara
and Mexico City said they had never heard of those products.
Companies from English-speaking countries that want to sell their products in nonEnglish-speaking countries also have a lot of problems finding good product names. The
sounds R and L, for instance, are often confused among some speakers of Asian languages.
Jonathan Mercer, managing director of Brand Guardians, a firm that specializes in creating
brand names, said companies have to be careful to avoid names with unsuitable meanings.
One of the most famous stories about a brand-naming problem involves an
American car. The marketing department of Chevrolet decided to name their new car
“Nova”. They thought that they’d found a good name. “Nova” means “star” in Latin.
However, in Spanish, the two words no va mean “doesn’t go”, which is not a very good
name for a car.
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SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
There is more than one way to find a name for a new product. Sometimes, to avoid
the problems that choosing a real word might cause, companies actually make up a word
that (they hope) does not exist in any language. One very successful made up name is
“Kodak”. It was chosen because it is pronounceable by people who speak many different
languages. However, even when a company invents a name, it can still have name
problems. For example, a number of years ago, Esso Oil Company wanted a new name for
their gasoline that would be acceptable all over the world. After spending a lot of time and
even more money, they came up with “Exxon”. Unfortunately, it didn’t work well in Japan.
The Japanese pronounce it “Eki-son”, which sounds like the Japanese phrase meaning “loss
of profit”.
Because English is now a global language, companies sometimes choose to use
simple English words that describe their new product. A well-known example of this kind
of naming technique is the “Walkman”. The Sony company chose this name for its personal
stereo because it describes the product- you can use it to walk and listen to music at the
same time.
It can take a long time to find the right name for a new product. First, a company
hires a group of creative people to brainstorm a list of possible names. This list may have as
many as 100 names on it. Then they often ask consumers to choose the names that they like
the best. This technique can have surprising results. A few years ago a French publishing
company was going to publish a new series of English-Language text books. Until they
could think of a name for the series, they called it “Method Orange” (like calling a product
“Brand X). When the publishers sent their list of possible names to consumers, one of them
added this name to the list. To everyone’s surprise, it was the most popular name chosen by
the consumers, and the series “Method Orange” was born.
When a company has found a name that consumers seem to like, the naming process
is still not over. They must then research the name to make sure that it is not the name of
another product. They usually choose the best three or four names so that they can be
certain of finding one that works. This research takes a long time because each name must
be researched in every country. For example, if you wanted to name a laundry detergent
“Fresh”, in addition to searching the names of laundry soap in each country, you would also
have to look at the names of other types of products that you think might have that name. A
search can cost $500 per name per country.
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SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
Reading Text 2
There are enormous inequalities in education in the United States. A child born into
a poor family has only a 9 percent chance of getting a college degree, but the odds are 54
percent for a child in a high-income family. These gaps open early, with poor children less
prepared than their kindergarten classmates.
How can we close these gaps? Contentious, ambitious reforms of the education
system crowd the headlines: the Common Core, the elimination of teacher tenure, charter
schools. The debate is heated and sometimes impolite (a recent book about education is
called “The Teacher Wars”).
Yet as these debates rage, researchers have been quietly finding small, effective
ways to improve education. They have identified behavioral “nudges” that prod students
and their families to take small steps that can make big differences in learning. These
measures are cheap, so schools or nonprofits could use them immediately.
Let’s start with college. At every step of the way, low-income students are more
likely to stumble on the path to higher education. Even the summer after high school is a
perilous time, with 20 percent of those who plan to attend college not actually enrolling —
a phenomenon known as “summer melt.” Bureaucratic barriers, like the labyrinthine
process of applying for financial aid, explain some of the drop-off.
While they were graduate students at Harvard, two young professors designed and
tested a program to help students stick to their college plans. Benjamin L. Castleman, now
at the University of Virginia, and Lindsay C. Page, at the University of Pittsburgh, set up a
system of automatic, personalized text messages that reminded high school students about
their college deadlines. The texts included links to required forms and live counselors.
The result? Students who received the texts were more likely to enroll in college: 70
percent, compared with 63 percent of those who did not get them. Seven percentage points
is a big increase in this field, similar to the gains produced by scholarships that cost
thousands of dollars. Yet this program cost only $7 per student.
The same researchers also tested a texting program to keep students from dropping
out of college. The problem is important because the graduation rate of low-income college
students is dismally low; two-thirds leave without a degree. Community college students
received texts reminding them to complete their re-enrollment forms, particularly aid
applications. Among freshmen who received the texts, 68 percent went on to complete their
sophomore year, compared with 54 percent of those who got no nudges. This, too, is a big
impact — especially for a program that cost only $5 per student.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/upshot/helping-the-poor-in-higher-education-the-power-of-a-simplenudge.html?_r=0
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SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY WRITING EXAM
Points: 32 pts
Total:________
STUDENT’S FIRST NAME AND LAST NAME:
________________________________________________________
STUDENT CLASS:
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TOTAL TIME:
60 mins (only for writing part)
A. You will follow the steps mentioned below;
1) You are supposed to choose a topic from the topics given below
and write ONE essay on the topic you have chosen.
2) Please write at least 60 sentences for the whole essay.
3) Please organize your essay as follows;
a. Introduction (1 paragraph)
b. Supporting x 3 points (3 paragraphs)
c. Conclusion (1 paragraph)
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SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
Grammar Part:
When you write, Please try to use the following subjects as much as possible;
a. Appropriate Verb Tenses
b. Modals (can, should, might, may, must, have to, be able to, etc.)
c. First, Second and Third Conditionals (If Clauses)
d. Passive Voices
e. Conjunctions (and, but, so, or, because, when, while, before, after, firstly,
lastly, later, then, etc.)
f. Relative Clauses
g. Gerund-Infinitives
Topics:
A-Please choose a topic from among the topics listed below and write a cause and / or
effect essay.
1.
2.
3.
4.
What are some effects of advertising on children?
What are some effects of unemployment?
What are some causes of immigration?
What are the causes of online shopping?
B-Could you please choose a topic and write a compare, contrast or compare and
contrast essay?
1. Living on campus and living off campus.
2. Influence of teachers and parents on children.
3. Social networking vs spending time with people in society.
C-Could you please choose a topic and write a problem-solution essay?
1. How can we help homeless people in our society?
2. How can we prevent violence against women?
3. How can we eliminate stress caused by exams?
D-You are supposed to choose a topic and write an argumentative essay.
1. Students should have open-book exams at university.
2. Parents should let teenagers make their own decisions.
3. Using drugs should be legal.
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SÜLEYMAN ŞAH UNIVERSITY/ FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
SAMPLE PROFICIENCY EXAM
Essay Evaluation Box
Content (6 pts)
Use of English (16 pts)
Vocabulary (5 pts)
Organization (5 pts)
TOTAL (32)
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