I wanted to write “PASSED” in big white chunky letters over the flag, but got second thoughts. You never know if a country has funny laws. Look at what happened to Bart Simpson in “Bart-Mangled Banner” when he mooned the American flag [he got thrown in jail].
You might have wondered why I haven’t posted anything in the first week of December. I studied for the Life in the UK Test and took the test last Friday. At first I grumbled when I got to know I had to study for some stupid test, but when I started reading it, I must admit I learnt a thing or two. Some of the laws are common sense, others not. People under 18 may not consume alcohol, but a young person of 16 or over may have a glass of wine or a beer with his meal in a pub. People get their driving licence at 17 in the UK (18 in South Africa and 16 in USA). These are just examples of the loads of facts you have to know.
People in all shapes and sizes waited with me at the test centre. Since I haven’t written an official test in more than 6 years I was a nervous wreck and just couldn’t stop fidgeting. One girl had the right idea though. She had a huge bottle of Coke she kept gulping down and in her other hand was one of those chocolate value packs you get in budget stores. After a while I lost track of how many Kit Kat’s were in that pack. That didn’t stop me from eyeing her enviously every now and then, wishing she would catch my drift and throw me a chocolate to chomp on. Maybe I was too subtle, because it didn’t seem to work. Hmpf.
Let’s just say I’m glad it’s over. If you still have to take the test, study hard and pass the first time. It’s expensive, you know. For each try it costs £34 and I can think of much better ways to spend it than wasting it on government authorities time and time again. To be thorough I read Life in the United Kingdom‘s Chapters 2-6 twice and the same with the Study Guide. If you bought the Study Guide, you have access to free online tests. It really helped me and I spent hours practicing. Speaking of which, I have finished with these two books so if anyone is interested in getting freebies, contact me.
Update: The books have now been shipped to a lucky reader.
Congratulations for passing the test.
I would be interested in the books if you are done with them and you are ok for giving them away to a stranger!
Anyway, can you please have a quick look at my site which I have developed to help people passing the tests, it will be great if you can do, the address is: http://uklifetest.com
Thanks, Toni.
congrats on passing, can u remember the questions that came up? mabye u oculd send them too me please? thanks
Donna: Thanks. I actually forgot them by now and we’re also not allowed to talk about it. They were multiple choice questions. There’s no point in trying to memorise the questions and answers though, because there must be thousands of them in the questionnaire’s database. My suggestion is for you to buy the study guide and get access to the publisher’s website (http://www.lifeintheuk.net) and do their practice tests. Hope that helps…
You can test yourself for free at the website:
http://www.thebigmind.org/view/project.php?pid=40