Listening:

Underline or highlight keywords in the questions Make notes in the margins of texts Dictation skills Synonyms Note differences and form a variety of descriptive words Predict possible answers and use logical word choice Note of any grammatical requirement (verb, noun, plural, singular, subject-verb agreement) Learn variations of type e.g.( road, avenue, place, crescent)) Be aware of context Change of mind or information Discourse Markers (because, therefore, in addition) High frequency words Complete all questions and make a guess if necessary Final Check for spelling or grammatical errors Answers in the correct box on answer sheet
Short Answer Short answer questions will require a student to answer a question in normally no more than 3 words and this is usually emphasised with the words, NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS,in bold capital letters. Great care must be taken to read the question and highlight or underline the requirements of the task before the questions are read. The student can also write a note

of the tense by the side of the question to give them a more accurate idea of the answer required.
Sentence Completion Much the same principles as the previous section on short answers can be used. With sentence completion a part of the sentence is given as the answer and the student must complete the sentences with the ideas from the spoken text. These must be grammatically correct and no more words than the amount stated, i.e. NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS Example: 1) On arrival students must report to the 2) Vicky's favourite subjects are 3) On campus students are not allowed to Question 1, is very specific about time and requires a singular noun as indicated by the definite article (the), students making notes would listen for information about arrival and make notes about definite

article nouns. Using their own knowledge together with their notes the answer should become an obvious choice. Question 2, specifically refers to Vicky's subjects only, and again good note taking will produce a couple or more subjects (Denoted by the plural of subject) which she enjoys. Care should be taken for false information. "I used to really like Maths and Science, but I think that after last semester I enjoy Art and Computer Sciences the most." Question 3, is very specific again about 'where' and 'not allowed'. The last word 'to' indicates the required answer will be a verb form. Students must ask themselves what likely things are normally not allowed on a campus and with this already in their mind notes listen for matches. Labelling Students need to quickly identify where the questions are and in what order with this exercise. When they first see the diagram they should look for the question numbers and circle them. Being aware of the correct order and where the questions are can assist them to stay focused on the text and not lose their place. As the spoken text progresses students are likely to encounter new vocabulary associated with the diagram and if they are making notes on the exam paper should listen especially for nouns. A typical diagram will have numbered blank spaces to fill in. In the diagram below the answers have already been filled out.

Flowcharts / Tables In this exercise students will listen for information to complete a table or flowchart. Again they should first circle the question numbers in order not to get lost and then evaluate the information in the table. A typical table would look something like below:

Library Membership Application

Name: Mr Mrs Ms Miss (1) ___________________________ First Name (2) ___________________________ Family Name (4) _____________________

Address: (3) Apartment _________________ Road

Cambridge, (5) ____________________ County Contact numbers Telephone: (6) ____________________ I.D Documents: Passport Number: (7) ________________________

Application date: (8) _____________________________________

Students MUST remember to use capital letters for proper nouns in this exercise. Even if they are correct with their spelling they will not receive a point if a name is not capitalised. Often with this exercise names are spelt out and numbers repeated. Good practice for this type of form is to accustom students to listening to mixed numbers i.e. 8,18 4,14 13,30 and also Western names. Many students do badly with road names for the address but practice should be taken with road forms such as: road, avenue, street, crescent, lane etc. Most road names are a common noun relating to scenic things, colour or attractive things i.e. Mountain Road, Rose Lane, Green Street, and again students can practice trying to identify what they hear with something common they already know.

Classification In this type of exercise students may be presented with a table and will have to listen to the text to place relevant information into the correct column: Example

You will hear a talk about ticket sales outlets. As you listen complete answers 1 - 4 by completing the table showing the greatest number of tickets sold in the different outlets.
R = Romance A = Action H = Horror

Direct Sales 1975 1996 R (3)

Box Office (1) R

Internet (2) (4)

The difficulty with this exercise is for students to quickly comprehend the format and what they are required to do. They need to practice this type of activity in order that they first recognize and understand it and can instantly know what answers are required. Practice should allow them to very quickly comprehend information on both horizontal and vertical axis and given information in the key box above the table. In addition students should circle the questions so that they are aware of where they are located and not be confused by other data. Matching

In this task the examinee is presented with simple illustrations and will have to choose one of them whilst listening to the text. Example

Practice at quickly noticing small detail is a very important skill for this question type. If the student has mentally prepared a list of vocabulary for the pictures it will better enable them to select the answer from the listening text. Exercises a) Students should brainstorm practice descriptions of sample pictures and list any words which can be used to describe what they can see.
Man Laughing Brown tie Grey suit Black shoes White shirt Balding Smart Policeman Peaked hat Blue uniform Baton Grey tie Black belt Black shoes On duty Old man White beard Bald head Walking stick Grey jumper Green shirt Black shoes Standing Walker Green woolly hat Backpack Walking stick Green jumper Blue trousers Brown shoes Walking

b) Use spot the difference puzzles to help them quickly identify differences, location words and adjectives.

c) Again by writing some ideas by the pictures it can help with the translation time and make the correct choice much easier.

Marker words/phrases are those English words/phrases that tell the listener that the topic is changing. Listen for marker words/phrases so that you know to move on to the next question. e.g. - And now (we will)... - Now tell me,... - Next, I'd like to... - Finally, can you tell us ... - Right, so the first thing ... - To start with ... - Before I move on to ... - I'd like now to move on to ... - One more thing ... - And what about...? - Well, that's about it, except for ...

Be especially careful of True/False type questions when the statements given include words such as "always", "never", "must", "have to", "only", and "all (the students etc.)". This can also apply to other question types such as multiple choice tasks in both the Listening and Reading Tests. These 100% qualifying words have unconditional or all-inclusive meanings in sentences

READING Reading - Basic Steps 1 FIRST Carefully read in detail each question 2 Underline key words and identify any modifiers or quantities 3 Skim the text and read headings and sub-headings to identify content location You can increase your general reading speed too, by following your finger with your eyes across the page as you read. Many studies prove how much quicker people read when guiding their eyes across the page. You might be surprised to discover how much faster you will be reading 4 Scan the text for key words or paraphrased expressions This requires an understanding of the main idea or topic of each paragraph. You can save yourself a great amount of time if you work out the main idea or topic of each paragraph in the early stages of your assessment of the passage 5 Read in detail the phrases which will provide the answer to check for clarity 6 Move quickly through the test paper and ignore questions that are not obvious

7 Go back through the test paper and rework missed questions, make a guess 7 Ensure all answers are on the provided answer sheet before the 60 minutes finishes The test paper is given out, the test started and will run for a total of 60 minutes including transfer time for answers. Candidates should quickly look at the first text headings and sub-headings and skim for context and content. Candidates should not try to read the whole text for detail there is not enough time. Once this is done the questions should be looked at in the order presented and key words underlined. The candidate should then scan the text and look for detail relating to the question and underline where it is found in the text. If the detail seems to be the correct answer the candidate should then read intensively around this detail to prove the answer. Candidates should also be made aware of paraphrasing. If an answer cannot be found they should move on to the next question and work through to the end of the paper. The missed questions should then be looked at with a close eye on time remaining. Before the end of the 60 minutes test all answers must be transferred to an answer paper. Candidates should check their answers for spelling and grammatical errors. Great care has to be taken with placing the answer in the correct box on the answer sheet and also in copying it to the sheet correctly.

Practice for Students Underline or highlight keywords in the questions Search for key words and paraphrasing in text Make notes in the margins of texts Predict possible answers and use logical word choice Note of any grammatical requirement (verb, noun, plural, singular, subject-verb agreement) Be aware of context Modals and quantities Definitions (a type of dog), such as, namely Discourse Markers (because, therefore, in addition) High frequency words Complete all questions and make a guess if necessary Final Check for spelling or grammatical errors Answers in the correct box on answer sheet Summary / Table / Flow-chart
There are different variations of this type of question and the summary exercise is often referred to by teachers as cloze or gap-fill. The summary normally consists of paraphrased text containing gaps where a word or two are missing. Students must read the

question thoroughly and skim the text to find the relevant phrases which address the same idea. The instructions will probably state, 'Choose NO MORE THAN
TWO WORDS from the reading passage'. Example:

Heated liquid or (1) .......................... is poured onto a strip called a ribbon and the glass is blown with compressed air through (2) ................. , this forces the liquid glass into a bulb shape which will later be (3) ......................... with a metal seal containing an electric filament. Sometimes this exercise also has a box which contains the correct answers plus a couple of other words from which you have to choose. Example: Heated liquid or (1) .......................... is poured onto a strip called a ribbon and the glass is blown with compressed air through (2) ................. , this forces the liquid glass into a bulb shape which will later be (3) ......................... with a metal seal containing an electric filament. molten glass gaps bent blowholes capped sealed

With this exercise it is a good idea for students to study which correct grammatical form is required for the answer and make a note in the gaps.
Then look at the words in the box and mark them as a noun or a verb etc.

Another question type in this category is where a table is used. Example .

Decade 1940's 1960's 1980's (1) 20,0000 (2) Income 10,000 Work 44 hours 40 hours (3) 18 hours 26 hours Leisure

Here it is crucial to read and understand how the left hand vertical column correlates to the top or header column. Te first thing to do is look at where the answers are required and mark them. Then check the columns and identify which information is needed. For answer (1) quickly skim the text for a reference or paragraph which contains information for the 1960's. Then scan for detail for income, work and leisure. Below is an example of a flow chart and in the text there will be a logical development of the sequence. Students need to mark off each piece of information located in the chart until they get to the question blank and then check it against the preceding and proceeding information to prove the answer.

Labelling a Diagram In this exercise the candidates will have to use words from the text to label a diagram or even a process. Students should look for nouns in the text and underline them. The answers may not be in consecutive orders so care is needed. Mostly the answers will be in a passage or part of the text. Some of the labels may already have text as a guide.

Headings for Paragraphs or Sections

Questions 1 4 Reading Passage 1 has five sections, A - E

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Question 1 has already been done as an example Write the correct number i-vii in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings i Highway Network Expansion ii What of the Future? iii Latest Engineering Developments iv Age of the Motor Car v Common Planning Errors vi Effect of Cars on the Environment vii A Case Study

Section A 1 Section B 2 Section C 3 Section D 4 Section E

(Example) iv

First cross out answer iv as it is no longer needed and is a distraction. It also shortens the list. Look for the main ideas from the paragraphs and only lightly pencil in the answer next to the heading, do not write it next to the question. Check to see if any ideas seem to fit the same heading and note these down. Go back through the answers and recheck the single answers and keep in mind the double answer ideas. Then go to the answers which have the seemly same heading and recheck. Some paragraphs are quite obvious so you can then cross these from the list and just concentrate on the headings which are not so obvious. Always look carefully to see if there is one main idea in a paragraph or a mixture of two ideas and thus a possible combination in the answer.
Locating Information This question type as with Headings for Paragraphs requires the candidate to have a good knowledge of the ideas in a paragraph and be able to determine the topic ideas in each paragraph.

Questions 1 4

Reading Passage 1 has five paragraphs, A - E. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter A - E in boxes 1 - 4 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once.
1 2 3 4 Writers Viewpoint There are two different types of this question. The first is where the candidates are required to answer using True, False or Not Given. This question type is mostly used with factual texts and is testing the candidates ability to search for and recognise pieces of information.
With these question types, skim and scan the text. Read the idea for detail and decide if this is the correct text for the question.

Highway Network Expansion A Case Study Common Planning Errors Effect of Cars on the Environment

Classification This question type requires candidates to be able put information into its own class or group. This grouping could be anything from people, library classification, time periods, colour, species etc. Example: A below 0 degrees B 0 to 100 degrees C 100 to 250 degrees D 250 to 1000 degrees Here the text might be about different liquid properties at different temperature Matching This question type is often for example used with texts that have development and research as their theme and discuss the researchers by name and also methods and time periods. The candidate is required to match the statement to, for example, a name, time period or method. The candidate must scan the text information for the question keyword or phrase and then read intensively for detail to link to the required name, time period or method. Example: 1 2 3 crown wheel and pinion metal wheels turbo-charger

front-wheel drive

Write the correct letters A-D in boxes 1 - 4 on your answer sheet.

A B C D GRAMMAR Alec Issigonis Hon C.S Rolls Henry Royce Fredrick Lanchester

Gerund after prepositions (nouns)

Gerund/Infinitive - Explanations Gerund/Infinitive - Exercises We use the Gerund after prepositions. noun + preposition We use the Gerund after the following nouns: advantage of chance of choice between danger of difficulty in doubt about hope of idea of interest in method of opportunity of possibility of problem of reason for risk of trouble for way of What is the advantage of farming over hunting? There's a chance of catching a cold these days. There's a choice between flying to London Heathrow or Stansted. Peggy is in danger of making a mistake. He has difficulty in sending SMS. He is in doubt about buying the correct software for his computer system. There's little hope of catching Schumacher's Ferrari. I like the idea of setting up a new email account. There's no interest in writing letters. This is a simple method of finding solutions. There's some opportunity of bringing her parents together again. These new wheels offer the possibility of riding tubeless. He has the problem of swimming too slow. There's a real reason for winning the contest. There's a risk of digging too deep. He was in trouble for stealing. This is a new way of building a wall.