- Il Volo is a teenage Italian boy band known for their "operatic pop" style of music that blends opera and pop. They gained fame after performing on American Idol. - The band is made up of Piero, Ignazio, and Gianluca, who met on an Italian talent show. Their debut album includes songs in Italian, Spanish, and English. - Il Volo hopes to share their love of music with people of all ages around the world. They are currently learning Chinese in order to expand their fanbase.

1. PRUEBA DE ADELANTO DE INGLÉS - 2º BD – FEBRERO 2015
PRUEBA NACIONAL – ADELANTO DE INGLÉS – 2º BD
High school: Marks
Group: Written test: /60
Name: Oral exam:
Date: Final mark:
READING A
ALBUM REVIEW: IL VOLO
Fantastic first album for teen band Il Volo!
Piero, Ignazio and
Gianluca are three Italian
teenagers with amazing
voices. They are the band
Il Volo. When you see
photos of Il Volo, they
look like any other boy
band, but these boys are different. They call their
music ‘operatic pop’ – something between opera and
pop. They are certainly not what you imagine when
you think of opera singers – not many opera singers
have teenage girls screaming ‘I love you!’ at them!
The boys have known each other for three years.
They met on the popular Italian talent show Ti Lascio
Una Canzone. Gianluca was the winner of the talent
competition, but the producer of the TV show put the
three teenagers together and the band, Il Volo, was
born. Il Volo is Italian for ‘flight’ and the boys say
they chose this name because when they sing, the
music makes them feel like they’re flying. The
group’s big success came after they performed on
the TV show American Idol in May, where they sang
the Italian song O Sole Mio. They have sold thousands
of records since they first sang together on the Italian
talent show.
There is something for everyone on Il Volo’s album.
It includes a mixture of Italian, Spanish and English
songs. The songs they sing in Spanish have made
them famous in Latin America. They are now learning
to sing in Chinese because they want to be famous in
China, too. The band already has a huge number of
fans of all ages and different nationalities.
The three teenagers have loved singing since they
were very small children. They say they have learned
a lot from their grandparents and from singing at local
music festivals in Italy. They may be young, but Il
Volo’s dream is clear: ‘We want to share our love of
music with people all over the world, including kids
our own age.’
1. Read the passage and mark the best option to answer these questions.
1. What do Il Volo call their music?
a. opera pop b. pop opera c. operatic pop
2. Who won the Italian talent show?
a. Gianluca b. Piero c. Ignazio
3. What is the group’s name in English?
a. talent b. flight c. band
4. What did they sing on American Idol?
a. O Sole Mio b. Il Volo c. Ti Lascio Una Canzone
5. What language are they learning to sing in?
a. Spanish b. Chinese c. English
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2. PRUEBA DE ADELANTO DE INGLÉS - 2º BD – FEBRERO 2015
6. Who taught them a lot about singing?
a. teachers b. friends c. relatives
7. What has made them so popular?
a. their voices b. their looks c. their music
8. What kind of audience do Il Volo singers aim at?
a. only young people b. only old people c. people of all ages
/8 marks
2. All of these words appear in the passage. In each group, three of them are related in meaning. Circle
the odd word out.
0. a. teenagers b. children c. kids d. voices
1. a. world b. music c. pop d. opera
2. a. festivals b. shows c. nationalities d. competition
3. a. record b. album c. songs d. talent
4. a. Italian b. Latin c. American d. Spanish
5. a. famous b. popular c. amazing d. different
/5 marks
3. Suzie is planning to attend Il Volo’s next concert. Complete Suzie’s e-mail inviting her friend Martin
to go with her.
Hi Martin,
How (0) is / are / am it going? Have you (1) see / saw / seen the poster for the coming concerts (2) on /
at / with Heron Park? They look great! Il Volo are (3) playing / play / plays on the 12th
and G Power on
the 19th
. I am busy on the 19th
. (4) so / but / if fortunately I’m free on the 12th
. (5) Do / Does / Did you
want to go and see Il Volo (6) on / at / with me? The tickets are ₤10. I (7) haven’t / hasn’t / hadn’t
bought my ticket yet, but my mum is buying some for herself and her friends tomorrow.
Suzie
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Email (8) me / my / mine this evening and Mum (9) should / must / can get you a ticket, too.
Hope you can (10) comes / came / come.
Cheers,
example 0 = is / 10 marks

3. PRUEBA DE ADELANTO DE INGLÉS - 2º BD – FEBRERO 2015
4. Write a paragraph of about 100 words to answer ONE of the following questions. You must use AT
LEAST 6 of the words presented in Activity 2.
a. Would you like to be in a band like Il Volo? Give reasons for your answer.
b. Would you like to be famous? Why / why not?
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/ 12 marks
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4. PRUEBA DE ADELANTO DE INGLÉS - 2º BD – FEBRERO 2015
READING B
The small country of Bhutan in the Himalayan
mountains is over one thousand years old. In the
past it was a poor country and not many people
visited it. But nowadays, it is becoming more and
more popular with tourists. Medicine and health
are improving and its economy is growing. King
Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the king of Bhutan
until 2006, talked about his country’s ‘Gross
National Happiness’ instead of its ‘Gross
National Product’. In other words, he thought
happiness is the way to measure the country’s
development.
But how do we measure happiness? Perhaps
health is the best way because as a famous doctor
once said, ‘Happy people generally don’t get
sick.’ It is also easy to measure how many people
feel ill or unhealthy in a country. One survey
says Iceland is the ‘healthiest country in the
world’ because men and women live a long time,
the air is very clean and there are more doctors
available per person than anywhere else in the
world.
However, there was another survey among 155
different countries to determine the happiest
countries in the world. Iceland was not near the
top. The questions on this survey included: How
much do you earn? How healthy are you? How
safe do you feel?
So does happiness equal money and good health? Not
according to artist Erik Krikortz. He feels that there are
other ways of measuring happiness. Krikortz has a
website and visitors click on different happy or sad
faces to comment on how well they sleep, their family
and friends, their level of stress, their enthusiasm, and
their physical activity. When you finish, his website
adds the results for each area and it gives you a final
result for your happiness.
In his home city of Stockholm, Krikortz also shows the
results of his survey as different coloured lights on the
side of a large building in the city. Red means the
people of Stockholm are very happy, green is OK and
purple means many people are sad. ‘A lot of people
look at the building every day and see how we feel,
Krikortz says. The coloured lights are also useful if you
are visiting the city - if the lights are red you know the
locals are feeling happy!
5. Choose the correct answer (a-c) for the questions, according to the information in the article.
1. How did the king of Bhutan measure the country’s development?
a. by money b. by health c. by happiness
2. Which is easiest way to determine happiness?
a. stress b. health c. development
3. Why was Iceland number one in a survey?
a. because of its money b. because of its health c. because of its happiness
4. How did researchers measure happiness in 155 countries?
a. with answers to questions b. by looking at people’s faces c. by measuring the number of
sick people
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5. PRUEBA DE ADELANTO DE INGLÉS - 2º BD – FEBRERO 2015
5. What do visitors to Krikortz’s website click on?
a. questions b. faces c. numbers
6. How many categories does Krikortz have for measuring happiness?
a. three b. five c. seven
6. Complete the following categories with words or phrases from Reading B.
PLACES HEALTH ECONOMY
• Countries
1) _______________
2) _______________
• Physical activity
3) _______________
4) _______________
5) _______________
• Development
6) _______________
7) _______________
/ 7 marks
7. Write an entry in your blog answering ONE of these questions. You must write between 100 and 120
words and include at least 6 of the words in the diagram of Activity 6.
a. In paragraph 2, a doctor said, ‘Happy people generally don’t get sick’. How much do you agree
with this opinion? Support your answer with ideas from the article.
b. In paragraphs 3 and 4 there are different questions and categories for measuring happiness.
Which do you think are useful for measuring happiness? Which are not very useful? Give reasons for
your answers.
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/ 6 marks
/ 12 marks