mm
Romanian Ministry of the Interior and Administrative Reform
DIRECTORATE

Directorate General for Management and Human Resources

The English Testing Team

for
The B1 English Test
for the
Romanian Ministry of the Interior
and Administrative Reform
Candidates’ Handbook

Specifications and Sample Papers
Testul de limba engleză : nivelul B1 pentru personalul MIRA /
Esther Hay, dr. Harabagiu Cătălina, Chersan Ileana. - Bucureşti : Editura
Ministerului Internelor şi Reformei Administrative, 2007
Bibliogr.
ISBN 978-973-745-052-4

I. Harabagiu, Cătălina
II. Chersan, Ileana

811.111:351
Contents
1. Preface
2. The CEF language testing system
3. Levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)
4. Background
5. Reasons for taking the B1 English Test
6. Marking and Grading
7. Administration
8. B1 English Test: an overview
9. Aims and objectives
10. General English Topics

European Framework established by the Council of Europe.

Levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)

UNDERSTANDING
Listening
UNDERSTANDING
Reading
SPEAKING
Spoken
interaction
SPEAKING
Spoken
Production
WRITING
Writing
A1

I can recognise familiar
words and very basic
phrases concerning
myself, my family and
immediate concrete
surroundings when people
speak slowly and clearly.
I can ask and answer
simple questions in areas
of immediate need or on
very familiar topics.


A2
I can understand phrases
and the highest frequency
vocabulary related to
areas of most immediate
personal relevance (e.g.
very basic personal and
family information,
shopping, local area,
employment). I can catch
the main point in short,
clear, simple messages
and announcements.

I can read very short,
simple texts. I can find
specific, predictable
information in simple
everyday material such as
advertisements,
prospectuses, menus
and timetables and I
can understand short,
simple personal letters.

I can communicate in
simple and routine tasks
requiring a simple and
direct exchange of
information on familiar

work, school, leisure, etc.
I can understand the main
point of many radio or TV
programmes on current
affairs or topics of
personal or professional
interest when the delivery
is relatively slow and
clear.

I can understand texts
that consist mainly of
high-frequency everyday
or job-related language. I
can understand the
description of events,
feelings and wishes
in personal letters.
I can deal with most
situations likely to arise
whilst travelling in an area
where the language is
spoken. I can enter
unprepared into
conversation on topics
that are familiar, of
personal interest or
pertinent to everyday life
(e.g. family, hobbies,
work, travel and

most TV news and current
affairs programmes. I
can understand the
majority of films in
standard dialect.

I can read articles and
reports concerned with
contemporary problems in
which the writers adopt
particular attitudes or
viewpoints. I can
understand contemporary
literary
prose.
I can interact with a
degree of fluency and
spontaneity that makes
regular interaction with
native speakers quite
possible. I
can take an active part in
discussion in familiar
contexts, accounting for
and sustaining my point of
view.
I can present clear,
detailed descriptions on a
wide range of subjects
related to my field of

literary texts, appreciating
distinctions of style. I can
understand specialised
articles and longer
I can express myself
fluently and
spontaneously
without much obvious
searching for expressions.
I can use language
I can formulate ideas
and opinions with
precision and relate my
contribution skilfully to
those of other speakers. I
can present clear, detailed
I can express myself in
clear, well-structured
text, expressing points of
view at some length. I
can
write about complex

6
understand television
programmes and films
without too much effort.
technical instructions,
even when they do not
relate to my field.

including abstract,
structurally or
linguistically complex
texts such as manuals,
specialised articles and
literary works.

I can take part effortlessly
in any conversation or
discussion and have a
good familiarity with
idiomatic expressions and
colloquialisms.
I can express myself
fluently and convey finer
shades of meaning
precisely. If I do have a
problem I can backtrack
and restructure around
the difficulty so smoothly
that other people are
hardly aware of it. I can
present a clear, smoothly
flowing description or
argument in a style
appropriate to the context
and with an effective
logical structure which
helps the recipient to
notice and remember

Marking and Grading
A candidate receives final marks for each individual papers. There is a passing grade (PASS) and a
failing grade (FAIL). “Pass’ corresponds to 75% accurate completion of Papers 1 and 2 and 100% of
Papers 3 and 4.
Administration

Candidates mark or write all their answers on the exam sheets.
B1 English Test: an overview

Paper Name Timing Content Test Focus
Paper 1 Reading 45 min.
Four parts which test a
range of reading skills
with a variety of
general English and
ESP texts
Assessment of candidates’ ability to
understand the meaning of written English
at word, phrase, sentence, paragraph and
whole text level.

7
Paper 2 Listening 30 min.
Four parts which test a
range of listening skills
with a variety of
general English and
ESP texts
Assessment of candidates’ ability to
understand dialogues and monologues in

express notions of relative time, space, possession etc., scan factual materials for
information in order to perform relevant tasks, disregarding redundant or irrelevant
material, read texts of an imaginative or emotional character and appreciate the central
sense of the text.
Listening
Candidates can understand and respond to announcements, show precise understanding
of short factual utterances and make identifications on the basis of these, extract
information of a factual nature (time, dates, names) from speech which will contain
redundancies and language outside the defined limits of B1, understand the sense of a
dialogue.
Writing
Candidates can give information, report events, describe people, places and objects as
well as convey reactions to situations, express hopes, regrets, pleasure etc. can also use
the words appropriately and accurately in different written contexts, and produce
variations on simple sentences.
Speaking
Candidates can express themselves in order to simulate authentic communication. They
can ask and understand questions and make appropriate responses and can talk freely in
order to express emotions, reactions, opinions etc.
TOPICS

General English Topics

1 personal identification
Name
Address
Telephone number
Date and place of birth
6 relations with other people
Relationship

At home
Income

4 free time, entertainment
Leisure
Hobbies and interests
Radio, TV etc.
Cinema, theatre
Exhibitions, museums, etc.
Intellectual pursuits
Sports
Press

5 travel
Public transport
Private transport
Traffic
Holidays
Accommodation
Luggage
Entering and leaving a country
Travel documents
Social affairs

7 health and body care
Parts of the body
Personal comfort
Hygiene
Ailments, accidents
Medical services


14 education
Schooling
Subjects
Qualification

Language structures

Word level
Nouns
Types of noun (proper, common denoting
uncountables)
Number (regular, irregular)
Genitive
Conjunctions
Co-ordinating
Subordonating

Phrase levels

Noun phrases 9

Pronouns
Types (demonstrative, personal, possessive, relative,
interrogative, reflexive, indefinite)
Gender


Simple forms: regular (infinitive, participles, present,
past, gerund)
Simple forms: irregular
Modal auxiliary verbs
Compound forms (perfective, progressive, passive,
modal+simple infinitive)
Be, have and do
Indirect speech

Adjective phrases

Pronoun phrases

Verb phrases
Forms containing one main verb
Short answers

Adverbial phrases

Preposition phrases

Clause level

Clause types and functions
Main clauses
Subordinate clauses

Forms and functions of subordinate clauses
Noun clauses
Adjectival (relative) clauses

• Educational background and experience
• Police powers and duties
• Career plans
• Stolen property
• Missing persons
• Suspects/criminals
• Types of crimes
• Types of punishment
• Traffic control
• Police organization/system/ranks
• Police equipment (uniform, buildings, vehicles, weapons, tools)
• Traffic-related offences and incidents
And in addition

• Police procedures (gathering evidence, criminal investigations etc)
• Negotiations
• Stress at work
• Prevention (securing property, counter-terrorism, drugs, hooliganism, traffic, trafficking in human beings etc.)

Border Guard
• Immigration, refugees, asylum seekers
• Detaining
• Smuggling
• Transport inspection
International cooperation
Authentic and adapted-authentic real world notices, newspapers and magazines, brochures and
leaflets, manuals, websites.

Marks
Each of the 20 questions carries one mark. A B1 pass has at least 15 items (75%) answered
correctly.

Sample Paper 1

1 Read the text below. Answer the questions in no more than 3 words. An example (0) is given.

The Royal Observatory

In 1675 King Charles II (1630 – 1685) ordered that the Royal Observatory be built at Greenwich to
study the problem of longitude with regard to navigation: the first astronomer, John Flamsteed
(1646 – 1719) moved in a tear later. He made a very precise 3000 star catalogue. Across the yard
there is a straight brass line running through the cobbles. This is the world Prim Meridian, longitude
zero. It runs from the North to South poles.

At the time the Observatory was built, zero longitude could be placed anywhere a map maker or
chart maker wished. This affected navigation and time (there was a difference of 15 minutes
between London and Plymouth). By the middle of the 1700s the Greenwich reading was being used
more and more, and finally, in 1884, it was chosen as the Prime Meridian longitude zero reading.

There lies the tombstone of Edmund Halley (1656 – 1742) and some members of his family. He
discovered that the comets have periodic orbits and identified one, which is named after him. He
calculated that it would appear every 76 years. In the Halley gallery one can see the living area
arranged as it would have looked in the 1700s.

12

Israeli soldiers fired across the border at the southern end of the Gaza strip, killing three
Egyptian police officers. An investigation has been ordered.

(4) A plane crashed into a lake in northern China seconds after take-off, killing all 53 people on
aboard and one person on the ground.

(5) A Zimbabwean man has appeared in court for denigrating President Robert Mugabe by calling
him a dictator, the Herald paper said.

A Charge over insult
B Aid worker shot by kidnappers
C Government investigates shooting
D Girl’s reminds go home
E Spam, spam and more spam
F Female body found in Japan
G Air tragedy

0 1 2 3 4 5
E

13
3 Read the text below. Put the sentences (A-G) in the gaps (1-6). Write your answers in the
space provided. An example (0) is given. There is one extra letter you do not need to use.

Flexible Speeding Fines

Flexible speeding fines and a fresh crackdown on the use of mobile phones in cars are among new
road safety measures being unveiled on Tuesday. The proposed new laws would also allow courts
to force the worst drink drivers to retake their driving tests. Seriously poor drivers (0) ………. .
Minister wants to cut the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents by 40% and

Gang Members Sue Over ‘Privacy Breach’

Teenage gang members responsible for “an epidemic of anti-social behaviour” (0) protested to the
High Court today after having their names and photographswidely publicised after anti-social
behaviour orders were made against them. Under the orders, they and five others were (1)
from an area of North London where local residentslived in fear of leaving their
houses because of the gang’s activities.

In the small area (2)
by the exclusion zone, there were more than 200 allegations
of robbery, burglary, criminal damage and vehicle crime by the gang between April 2002 and April
2003.

14
The orders were (3) against them last year by the Metropolitan Police and Brent
Council under the Crime and Disorder Act.

The three youths, who cannot be named and were (4) to in court as S, M, and
K, claimed that their “right to privacy” under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human
Rights was breached by the publicity.

Personal details and photographs of the three youths, aged 15, 16 and 18, were unnecessarily (5)
thousands of homes and even posted on the internet, leading to worldwide exposure,
Michael Fordham, their counsel said.
obtained excluded distributed covered

protested breached referred

Each of the 20 questions carries one mark. A B1 pass has at least 15 items (75%) answered
correctly.

15
Sample Paper 2

1 Listen and match the name of a celebrity (A-F) with their idea of the best date (1 – 6). There
is one extra number you do not need to use.
An example (0) is given.

A Drew Barrymore 0 Flower power

B Antonio Banderas 1 Film fans

C Gavin Rossdale 2 Beach babe

D Alicia Silverstone 3 Dog days

E Brittany Murphy 4 Hug therapy

F LL Cool J 5 Nature lover

6 Passion, please A B C D E F
0 2 Listen and circle the letter of the correct answer. An example (o) is given.

A Increase the wages for police officers
B Sack officers who take bribes
C Reduce corruption in the country
D Recruit more honest police officers

5 Officers will be given a cash reward if

A They arrest more than 20 criminals per month
B They ignore minor crimes
C They arrest anyone who tries to give them a bribe
D They report colleagues who take bribes 3 Listen and complete the missing information.
Write one word in each space. One example (0) is given. The (0) ___singer___ Josephine Baker was in a bar. She was insulted by a white man

who made some remarks about her (1)___________. Ms Baker has lived in

(2) _________________ and couldn’t accept that kind of boorishness.

She reported the incident to the police who did nothing because they hadn’t

heard the (3)_______________. However, Mrs. Baker used the Los Angeles

Statute and (4) ______________ the man herself as a private citizen.

Then the police accused him of (5) _____________ and disturbing the peace.