14.02.05-Cambridge English Seminars: BEDA Seminar Handouts - Cambridge English: First for Schools

Cambridge English First for Schools

CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: FIRST FOR SCHOOLS 2

Handout 1 - Reading

Classroom activity: Reference (Part 1)

Timing 15 minutes

Materials worksheet: Reference (adapted from sample paper Part 1)

Rationale The purpose of this activity is to encourage students to read a text in

detail and understand how sentences relate to each other, by identifying and

understanding the use of pronouns.

Procedure

1. Write two sample sentences on the board, e.g.: John was tired. He had been

working hard recently.

2. Ask who ‘He’ is and elicit the answer ‘John’.

3. Ask what kind of word ‘He’ is, and elicit or explain that it is a pronoun.

4. Elicit other pronouns and write them on the board. Explain they are important if

we want to understand what is happening in a sentence or paragraph.

5. Give students the worksheet: Reference and explain that it is a typical text from

a Cambridge English: First for Schools Reading paper.

6. Ask students to read the extract for gist and ask one or two comprehension

questions.

7. Some of the words are highlighted. These are either pronouns or possessives.

Ask the students to work in pairs and underline the word or phrase these

highlighted words refer to. Remind them that a pronoun can refer to a complete

idea and not just one word.

8. When they have finished, discuss the answers with them and address any

difficulties they have had.

Key

1. Him – Jamie 2. His – Danny

3. That – arrogance 4. Him – Jamie

5. It – the semi-final 6. It – his father’s face

7. It – the shot 8. He – Jamie

9. It – always tried to limit Powell’s open hostility towards his son’s opponents

10. This – he’d been on a squash court every waking moment of his sixteen years

11. It – dialogue 12. Him – Jamie


Jamie tried to ignore the shouts from the spectators, urging the players on. Across the squash court, Danny Powell glared back at him. But there was an element of satisfaction in Danny’s face. His arrogance had gone – the first two games had at least knocked that a bit – but having fought back with usual aggression to two

games all, he clearly felt he was in with a chance of taking the match.

Jamie tried to focus his mind and energy. He knew the pressure was on him now. He had been two games ahead and had thrown that lead away. Though this was meant to be a minor event, the semi-final of the Under 19 Knockout in the ‘friendly’ atmosphere of their own club, it was obvious that everyone wanted to know who the winner would be, as they saw it as a taster for the Regional Championships in

two weeks’ time.

Jamie glanced up at the faces in the gallery. Their classmates were all there, and, of course, Bob Powell, who was going on and on with pride every time Danny won a point, as though his son were a superstar and not the show-off that he was. But there was only one face up there Jamie was bothered about – his own father’s. And right now, he did not dare to look at it.

‘Fifth and final game,’ called Geoff, the umpire. The shouts from the gallery died away and Jamie forced his mind back to the match. Danny served. Jamie started to dive forward. Earlier in the match, he would have reached this shot, but now, with his energy almost spent, he stopped, knowing it was out of reach, anxious to

save what strength he had left.

Powell’s voice bellowed out: ‘Good boy, Danny, good boy! He’s finished!’ Jamie

heard disapproving noises from Joe who, as owner of the club, always tried to limit Powell’s open hostility towards his son’s opponents. It never did any good.

Jamie turned back to the court, determined to fight back, but now desperately jaded. It seemed to him suddenly that he’d been on a squash court every waking moment of his sixteen years. And before the next ball came towards him, he just had time to reflect that this wasn’t far from the truth. No wonder these walls had come to feel like a prison cell; and it was a cell of tension, with moments of victory, but dominated for the most part by an ambition he sensed he would never fulfil.

The next point was given to Jamie. Danny turned to Geoff: ‘It was out.’ Jamie looked away. He knew it was his point but he didn’t expect a problem. Geoff was not a person to be fazed by anyone, not even Danny or his father. ‘Come on,’ said Danny. ‘It was my point.’ Jamie had heard this sort of dialogue so many times from Danny and, if it went on long enough, which it usually did, Bob Powell was bound to join in. ‘I’ve given my decision,’ said Geoff. ‘Now play on.’

Jamie said nothing and continued to wait, ball in hand. In a strange way, he was grateful for this interruption. It gave him a moment to catch his breath. But not for long. Geoff leaned on the rail and fixed his eyes on Danny. ‘Danny, play on, please, or I’ll award a penalty point.’ Danny, with a final glare, walked back into position to continue the match. Jamie served at once, hoping the incident would have unsettled Danny’s rhythm.

But Danny was now fired up. The ball came back like a bullet. To Jamie, the next four points seemed to fly past in a maze of volleys and smashes that forced him back, pulled him forward, played with him like a toy. He knew then that he could

not beat Danny. Not today. Perhaps not ever. Danny was too strong.

Worksheet: Reference

Read this extract from a novel. The words in bold refer to other words and phrases in the text. Underline the words or phrases they refer to.


Handout 2 – Reading & Use of English

Classroom activity: Related words

Timing 10 minutes or longer

Materials sets of related words; worksheet: Related words is given as an

example

Rationale The purpose of the activity is to encourage students to broaden their

vocabulary by building up a bank of related words. This is a general

skill, so is valid for all parts of the Reading paper, as well as general

English improvement.

Procedure

1. Divide the students into pairs or groups of three and tell them that they are going

to play a bargaining game. Elicit or demonstrate the meaning of this.

2. Demonstrate how the game works with the following example:

Group A has the following words: to argue, to fall out, to accept, to grow,

complex, to be worried.

They read the words and realise that to argue and to fall out can have a

similar meaning, and therefore, they have two of a set.

Group B has the following words: to break up, to have concerns, to be

troubled, mature, to go along with, difficult. They have a phrase which belongs

to Group A’s set of words (to break up), and Group A has to be worried, which

belongs to a set Group B can make. (They already have to have concerns and

to be troubled.)

3. Give each pair or group a set of six words. The words provided on the

worksheet: Related words are an example only and work for five groups. If you

wish to use them, they will need to be cut up and mixed so there are some

related and some unrelated words in each group.

4. The groups bargain with each other to swap cards. (This could be done as a

mingling activity). The objective of the game is that every group ends up with a

complete set of related words.

5. Check that the students have collected the right sets, and discuss any difficulties.

N.B. The complexity of the words can be varied, and based on texts currently

being studied in class. However, part of the challenge is to make sure that the

students have to think about and discuss the meaning of the words, so that they

can decide which words actually go together. (In the exam, they will not always

be looking for direct synonyms, so an element of complexity is important.)


Worksheet: Related words

difficult

hard complicated complex obstacle effort

develop

change mature grow improve evolve

to have

concerns

to be

worried

to be

unsure

to fret to be

anxious

to be

troubled

to accept to

acknowledge

to approve to agree to say yes to go

along with

to argue

to fight to fall out to disagree to oppose to break

up


Handout 3 – Use of English

Cambridge: First – Dictogloss

This text was written around structures used in part 4 of the

Cambridge: First Use of English paper.

What grammatical features do you think these students noticed when they compared their own text with the original?

Last week I had a job interview in London. It was the first time I

had ever been to the city centre so I thought I’d better plan the

trip well. What a disaster! First, the train was delayed, so even

though I had left early, I missed my connection. There was no

point in waiting for the next one, so I took a taxi, but I didn’t take

into account how awful the London traffic is. I arrived just in time,

but then they made me wait an hour. I had to sit in the reception

on my own getting more and more nervous. Finally, a woman

appeared and told me that the manager had been called to an

emergency. She asked me to go back the next week!

Last week I went a job interview in London. It was the first time I

went to the city centre so I would better to plan the trip well.

What a disaster! At first, the train was delayed, so even I had left

early, I lost my train. There was no point to wait for the next train,

so I took a taxi, but I didn’t have account how awful is the

London traffic. I arrived on time, but they made me to wait one

hour. I stayed at the reception on own being more nervous.

Finally, a woman came and told me that the manager was gone

to an emergency. She asked me that I go back the next week!


Handout 4 Example answers to Writing Part 1

Example Answer A

Example Answer B

Example Answer C


Handout 5 Part 1 question

FCE Writing Part 1

You must answer this question. Write your answer in 120–150 words in an

appropriate style on the opposite page.

You have arranged to visit your English-speaking friend, Chris, for the weekend.

Read Chris’s letter, and the notes you have made. Then write a letter to Chris, using all your notes.

Write your letter. You must use grammatically correct sentences with accurate

spelling and punctuation in a style appropriate for the situation.

No, because …

Say which and why

Hi! I’m so glad you can come and stay with me for the

weekend. There’s a Science Festival in my city that

weekend and I thought we could go to it.

The Festival Programme looks great. We can go to the

exhibition in the morning, but in the afternoon we have to

choose one of these talks: ‘Can Animals Speak?’ which is

about animal communication, or ‘The Power of the Sun’.

Which would you prefer?

Is there anything else you need to know about

the festival?

Finally, would you like to stay with me for a bit longer?

There’s so much that I want to show you.

See you soon.

Best wishes

Chris

Yes!

Ask Chris about …


Handout 6 Worksheet: What kind of mistake?

Impeding – prevents understanding

Non-impeding – we understand despite the mistake

1. I hate it when Mum asks me to keep a foot on my little

sister. I don’t like looking after her.

2. I always help my mother make the housework.

3. Jane likes opera and nor do I.

4. I’ll take an umbrella so that it rains.

5. I have a really high tree growing in my garden.

6. You can walk – the post office is far from here.

7. He doesn’t really enjoy to play tennis.

8. I’m interested on history – I love reading historical

books.

9. I met him tomorrow.

10 If you had studied harder, you will pass the exam.


Handout 7 Part 1 answers Script A Dear Chris Thank you for your answer. I'am very happy to hear from you again. I would love to join you at the Science Festival. It must be a lot of fun. I am very fond of going to the exhibition in the morning. I would like to choose the talk about animal communication. It must be very interesting to hear about the different possibilities for communication with animals. I heard about a monkey which can remember arround 250 signs and is able to use them for communication with its trainer. Can you imagine that? It is maybe possible to discuss that. Can we see some chemistry experiments in the morning? Unfortunately I can't stay a bit longer with you, because I have a lot of work to do and a very important exam to prepare for. I am looking forward to see you again. Best regards

Script B Hi Chris I'm looking forward visiting you in London. It's a nice idea to go to this Science Festival. I didn't know, that there's going to be one in your city. We're going to take this chance. It will be interesting. Now here are my toughts about the two different talks. The first one named "Can Animals Speak?" would be funny for sure, but the other one named "The Power of the Sun" would be better, because it is something for the future. Maybe I can use something from it for my job as IT‐ Specialist. This one has a bit more to do with techniks. By the way, what's the name of the festival? I want to read in the internet about it, what's important to see at this festival. How many people will be there? It's a pitty that I can't stay longer. I have to go, to school on Monday. Best wishes


Handout 8 Part 2 question

You have seen this announcement in an

international magazine.

Write your article.

Talk about what you would expect in terms of:

1. Content

2. Communicative conventions

3. Organisation

4. Language

MY FAVOURITE TEACHER

Tell us about a favourite teacher of yours and say what

you remember about him or her.

We will publish the most interesting articles next month.


Handout 9 Part 2 answer


Handout 10 - Speaking

Part 1

Watch Ottavia and Hannah in Part 1 of the Speaking test, and decide whether the

following comments refer to Ottavia, Hannah or both of them:

Answers questions fluently and mostly accurately.

Answers questions with little hesitation, only to gather thoughts.

Speaks rather hesitantly at times.

Speaks rather fast at times (maybe due to nerves) but shows good fluency.

Occasional inappropriate usage.

Sometimes tails off at the ends of her utterances.

Some inaccuracies but corrects herself naturally.

Extends where necessary.

Part 2

Listen carefully to the interlocutor’s instructions to Ottavia. Does he ask her to

describe the two photos? Her other task is to say why the people have chosen to

communicate in the different ways shown in the photos.

Now listen to Ottavia speaking for a minute. Does she do as the interlocutor

instructed?

How well does Hannah answer her follow-up question about the internet?

Hannah is asked what people might find difficult about learning to ski or to cook.

Does she address her task well?

How well does Ottavia answer her follow-up question about cooking?

As a teacher, what correction point would you focus on, to deal with accuracy,

after watching this part?


Part 3

According to Cambridge ESOL assessors, both candidates interact well, Hannah

very well. Watch the clip and note how the two candidates interact.

What phrases do they use to develop the interaction?

How could they interact better with each other?

What does Hannah do that Ottavia does not in terms of developing the

discussion?

How do they move the discussion along?

Do they reach a decision?

Part 4

Below are some comments by Cambridge ESOL examiners on the performances of

the two candidates. Watch the video clip of Part 4, then fill in the gaps with a suitable

word from the list.

pronunciation, fluency, little, extends, range, structures, fully, personal, all,

vocabulary, hesitant, grammatical, develops, inaccurate

Ottavia answers ………… her questions and tries to extend her answers a ……...... .

She is less hesitant when talking about …………….. experiences. This seems to give

her confidence and her …………… improves. She shows a good range of

……………. and ……………., but is sometimes rather ………………. .

Hannah answers all her questions ………….. , she ……………… her ideas and

…………… where she can. She is sometimes …………………. when she is trying to

explain complex ideas, and has occasional …………………… problems (for example

with singular and plural), although her ……………. of vocabulary is good.

The …………………… of both candidates is easily understood.


Why have the people chosen to communicate in these different ways?


What might the people find difficult about learning to do these different things?


How could these different things help the students to learn about life in another country?

Which two would be most useful for the students?

21


Handout 11: Listening (Part 3)

Task 1

Listen to the recording and answer the following questions.

1. How long has the girl been playing tennis?

2. Why did she not win very often?

3. Why does she prefer tennis to other sports? (two reasons)

Task 2

Match the words (or phrases) on the left, with words on the right, which have roughly

the same meaning.

Amazingly skilful

To be fit

I go for tennis rather than

any other sport

When you want

To be in good shape

I prefer

In your own time

two

A couple

Extremely talented

Now find another word or expression of similar meaning for each phrase.


Handout 12: Listening (Part 3)

You will hear five different people talking about a mistake they recently made. These

are the types of mistake that each person made.

A ignoring someone’s advice

B failing to inform someone about something

C mistaking someone’s identity

D arriving somewhere too early

E getting a particular date wrong

F losing something important

Think of ways of expressing these mistakes using different words. Try and find

several different ways of saying the same idea.

A

B

C

D

E

F

Now listen to the recording, and decide which speaker made which mistake:

Speaker 1

Speaker 2

Speaker 3

Speaker 4

Speaker 5

Did you hear any of your suggestions for alternative ways of expressing the same

idea? Do you think this would help you get a better mark for this part of the listening

exam?

14.02.05-Cambridge English Seminars: BEDA Seminar Handouts - Cambridge English: First for Schools

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Transcript of 14.02.05-Cambridge English Seminars: BEDA Seminar Handouts - Cambridge English: First for Schools