FCE Practice tests for the EFL Exams

Read this text and the paragraphs opposite. Decide where the paragraphs go in the text, and put the correct number next to each. e.g. (X) . You do not need one of the paragraphs opposite.

Kirsty McColl

When we talk of British pop music, the names of certain singers come up every time. Some people like the Spice Girls. Others will think of Robbie Williams, and bands such as UB40. (A)

Kirsty is the singer who spent her entire life almost becoming famous. Yet two things always seemed to get in her way. One was pure bad luck. For example, one of her best-known hits was "They don't know". It seemed certain to go to number one.(B)

The other reason that Kirsty did not succeed as much as she deserved is that she was an intelligent woman who did not let the record companies manipulate her. She refused to pretend to be sexy, sultry and brainless. She wrote intelligent songs that were not just about love and passion. (C)

As a result, Kirsty had bad relations with most of the record companies that she worked for. She might have done well with her career, even if she did not like working with recording companies, if she had gone on tour with her songs. (D)

Later in her life, Kirsty found that winters in Britain were too depressing for her, and she started spending the winters in Latin American countries - places like Cuba and Mexico. (E)

It seemed as though Kirsty was finally going to be successful. But fate struck again. In 2000 while she was swimming off a beach in Mexico, someone took a motorboat into the swimmers' area. (F)

1. But at the time, there was a strike by the record distributors, so almost no-one heard it. Later the song was done again by another British singer, Tracy Ullman, and it did go to number one in the charts.

2. Her husband also worked in the music industry. Together they had two children. They remained together for many years, but eventually they drifted apart, and the marriage was over.

3. She was hit by the boat and killed. This was a tragedy, not just or her family, but for British music, which lost one of its brightest talents.

4. Look at this example - "There's a brand-new car in your driveway, there's a blonde you've got in your bed. You've everything you ever wanted - happy little bubble-head".

5. But another of Kirsty's problems was that she was rather shy, and she did not like to perform in front of a large audience.

6. If you like thoughtful, clever songs, you might prefer Sting. Yet there is one singer who was a part of the modern British pop scene for many years, and yet only a few fans know her name - Kirsty McColl.

7. The music of those countries influenced her last album Tropical Brainstorm. With sharp witty lyrics, and strong musical backing, Kirsty gained new fans, who loved songs like "In these shoes?"