Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: How difficult is this?

Here is a test from a sample paper. 
I am not saying which EFL certificate it's from, for the moment :)
How would you rate the test in a scale from 0 (very easy) to 10
(very difficult)?
For questions 1-18, read the three texts below and decide which answer
(A, B, C or D) best fits each
gap. Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.
Jerome Flynn – Actor Turned Singer After a variety of jobs, Jerome
Flynn became (1)…. successful with fellow actor Robson Green in the
TV series Soldier, Soldier, and then when they (2)…. up as singers in
1995, they had three number one hits. ‘It was a whirlwind, fantasy
time,’ says Jerome. ‘We made the records because we quite (3)…. the
money, and it paid off. It was a lot of fun, but you can become (4)….
in the pop world. It’s addictive, and once you’re a pop star, people
tend to (5)…. you on a pedestal. It was so mad we had to get out
while the going was good. Now money doesn’t mean so much, although it
(6)…. me to leave my career behind for a while. But Robson wanted to
go back to acting and has made quite a success of it. I’d like to
work with him again one day.’
1 A greatly B largely C hugely D grossly
2 A joined B teamed C fixed D grouped
3 A craved B longed C yearned D fancied
4 A laid up B seized up C taken up D caught up
5 A lift B have C put D hold
6 A enabled B empowered C entitled D effected
The Sailing Trip 
A few days ago, I was (7)…. my new sailing gear ready
for my first long trip, around the coast of Britain on the sailing
ship Hirta. I watched a TV report of some fellow yachtsmen crossing
the finishing (8)…. off a place called Ushant to complete a record
round-the-world voyage. The sea was rough, the wind looked fierce
and, although they were putting a brave (9)…. on it, the winning
yachtsmen looked exhausted. What I was seeing on the television
screen was not my (10)…. of yachting. I felt smug knowing I had this
marvellous opportunity to drift gently round Britain learning to
sail, and that I would be steering (11)…. of the horrors of ocean
sailing. Casually I looked up Ushant on the map. I went quite cold:
Ushant was (12)…. 32 kilometres further south than the starting point
for my great journey on the Hirta.
7 A going through B setting down C checking up D passing over
8 A mark B strip C line D sign
9 A face B eye C appearance D view
10 A thought B idea C notion D sense
11 A clean B straight C short D clear
12 A virtually B practically C simply D barely
Mrs Murgatroyd
‘And there’s another thing,’ said Mrs Murgatroyd. Beside her in the
taxi her husband concealed a small sigh. With Mrs Murgatroyd there
was always another thing. No matter how well things were (13)…., Edna
Murgatroyd went through life to the accompaniment of a running
commentary of complaints, an endless litany of dissatisfaction. In
short, she (14)…. without cease. In the seat beside the driver,
Higgins, the young executive from head office, who had been selected
for the week’s vacation at the (15)…. of the bank on the grounds of
being ‘most (16)…. newcomer’ of the year, sat silent. He was in
foreign exchange, an eager young man whom they had only met at London
airport twelve hours earlier and whose natural enthusiasm had
gradually (17)…. away before the onslaught of Mrs Murgatroyd. The
driver, full of smiles when they selected his taxi for the run to the
hotel a few minutes earlier, had also caught the mood, and he too had
(18)…. into silence.
13 A doing B getting C going D being
14 A nagged B gossiped C uttered D voiced
15 A liability B expense C debit D deficit
16 A promising B emerging C favourable D auspicious
17 A washed B ebbed C dripped D rinsed
18 A paused B reposed C lapsed D desisted
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 (very difficult)?
It has to be rather hard! No one even tried it   :D
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