grammar, vocabulary, reading (gvr) test skill ......3 abgecgan.og teachers preparing students for...

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Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading (GVR) Test Skill Development Activities for the Classroom

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General Information

Part 2 of the ECCE, in three parts

• 90 minutes

• 100 questions, all multiple choice

Questions and reading texts reflect a range of contexts:

• Personal

• Public

• Occupational

• Educational

Vocabulary

35 multiple-choice questions testing a wide range of vocabulary.

Example task:

Choose the word or phrase that most appropriately completes the sentence.

1. Everyone thought that the new student was a welcome _______ to the class.

a. increaseb. growthc. developmentd. addition

Reading

There are two types of reading tasks:

• Part 1: two reading passages followed by five comprehension questions each

• Part 2: two sets of four thematically-related passages with 10 comprehension questions each

All questions are multiple choice with four options

Summary

• high-intermediate level, paper-based test based on internationally recognized criteria

• 90-minute multiple-choice test

• no prescribed course—any general English course may be followed

About the GVR Sections

Grammar

35 grammar questions testing a variety of structures including:

• The complete range of tenses, including more sophisticated use of the basic structures

• Mixed conditionals

• Relative clauses

• Modal verbs used for more sophisticated purposes, e.g. deduction

• Active & passive verbs

• A full range of conjunctions

• Phrasal verbs

• Reported speech

• Use of gerund and infinitive

• Use of question tags

• More advanced use of comparatives, and

• Use of “would” and “could” after “I wish” and “if only”

Example task:

Choose the word or phrase that best completes the conversation or sentence.

1. It is better _______ the job now rather than leave it for tomorrow.

a. finishesb. to finishc. finishd. finished

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Teachers preparing students for the ECCEThis packet contains general information about the Grammar, Vocabulary, and Reading sections of the ECCE. Included are 4 lesson plans for improving student GVR skills and over a dozen suggestions for additional lessons. These lessons mainly employ a collaborative learning model.

When reviewing the lessons keep in mind:

• ECCE is aimed at the B2 level of the CEFR.

• ECCE grammar items focus on a variety of grammatical features observed in written American English. It is assumed that test takers can “show a relatively high degree of grammatical control” (Council of Europe, 2001: 114).

• ECCE vocabulary items measure vocabulary size and tap certain in-depth aspects of vocabulary knowledge. It is assumed that test takers will have a vocabulary size of up to 8,000 words (Laufer & Ravenhorst-Kalovski, 2010).

ECCE reading items focus on three subgroups of reading skills: global, local, and inferential:

Global

• understanding main idea

• understanding author’s opinion

• understanding the relationship between ideas

• comparing/contrasting features of one or more texts

Local

• understanding explicitly stated ideas (detail) from one or more texts

• understanding vocabulary in context

• identifying referents

Inferential

• drawing an inference/conclusion from one or more texts

• understanding rhetorical function

Please see the CaMLA website for additional sample test materials.

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Classroom ActivityFuture Continuous and Future Perfect

Timing 5 minutes

Materials Future Continuous and Future Perfect Worksheet

Rationale To determine the difference between future continuous and future perfect by selecting the correct structure to fill the gap and manipulating the structures correctly.

Procedure

1. Remind students of the correct form and use for both future continuous and future perfect.

2. Give out Worksheet: Future Continuous and Future Perfect and ask them to fill in the gaps in the dialogue using the correct structure of the words in brackets.

3. Go through the correct answers with the class (see key to worksheet, below), clarifying understanding and correcting common errors.

4. Ask students to practice reading the dialogue in pairs, playing particular attention to the pronunciation of the shortened and weak forms of the verbs.

5. Still working in pairs, ask students to look at task (B) on the worksheet and improvise a dialogue about their own future plans, trying to use these two forms if possible. You may wish them to write the dialogue so you can correct any errors.

Key to Worksheet

John: What (1) will you be doing this time next year?

Alex: I (2) will be working in my father’s law firm. How about you?

John: I’m not really sure. I (3) will probably still be studying for my Spanish exams. I (4) won’t have finished my course by then.

Alex: Wow! You’ve been studying for years. Next time I see you, you (5) will have completely mastered the language.

John: I doubt it, but you (6) will be earning a fortune! You will have to buy me a fancy dinner in a top restaurant.

Alex: Sure thing. I guess I (7) will have saved enough by then!

Note: Encourage students to use the contracted forms (I’ll) when they are speaking.

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Worksheet: Future Continuous and Future Perfect

Future continuous: used to describe a continuous action which will be happening at a specific time in the future.

• This time next week I’ll be sunbathing on the beach.

Future perfect: used to describe an action which will have happened by a particular time in the future.

• By Monday I will have finished my assignment.

1. Complete the conversation, using the words in brackets and the correct future form.

John: What (1) __________________ (you/do) this time next year?

Alex: I (2) _______________________ (work) in my father’s law firm. How about you?

John: I’m not really sure. I (3) ______________________ (probably/still/study) for my Spanish exams. I (4) _______________________________ (not/finish) my course by then.

Alex: Wow! You’ve been studying for years. Next time I see you, you (5) _______________ (completely/master) the language.

John: I doubt it, but you (6) ________________ (earn) a fortune! You will have to buy me a fancy dinner in a top restaurant.

Alex: Sure thing. I guess I (7) ______________________ (save/enough) by then!

2. Now ask each other about your plans for this time next year. Try to extend your conversation with appropriate detail and reaction, and make sure you use the correct verb forms.

Notes: ___________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

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Classroom ActivityModals of Deduction

Timing 15 minutes

Materials Worksheet: Modals of Deduction; a picture of your choice, which enables you to demonstrate modals of deduction

Rationale To deduce what has happened from a series of puzzles to solve; to express themselves with appropriate modal verbs

Procedure

1. Show the class a picture, e.g. a scene from a movie. Ask the class what they think might have happened or be happening now. Elicit phrases which you can use as examples on the board, e.g. She must be a doctor; He might have been in an accident; He could be going to a party.

2. Divide the students into groups of three or four and give them the Worksheet: Modals of Deduction. Ask them to solve the puzzles you have given them and to write down their ideas using sentences which include a modal verb.

3. Monitor the exercise carefully and check for understanding and correct use of the structures.

4. When asking the students for their ideas, write good examples of modal usage on the board and give them the correct answers to the puzzles (see key to worksheet, below).

Key to Worksheet

1. The carrot, pebbles and pipe are part of a snowman which has melted.

2. The man is in a hotel room and he can’t sleep because the man in the room next door is snoring. He calls the room’s number and the man wakes up and answers. The first man hangs up without saying anything and goes to sleep before the other man starts snoring again.

3. The man is driving the wrong way down a one-way street.

4. This man is very short and he can’t reach the button for the 20th floor. If someone is with him, they can press the button for him. If it is raining he can use his umbrella to push the button.

5. The man has hiccups and the bartender has startled him to make the hiccups go away.

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Worksheet: Modals of Deduction

Below is a set of puzzles. In your group, decide what might be happening. Use phrases such as could be, must be, might have been, can’t have been, etc.

1. There’s a carrot, a pile of pebbles and a pipe lying together in the middle of a field.

2. A man is lying awake in bed. He makes a phone call, says nothing, hangs up and then goes to sleep.

3. A man drives down the highway at 55mph. He passes three cars going at 60mph. He is pulled over by a police officer who gives him a ticket.

4. A man lives on the 20th floor of an apartment block. Each day he comes home from work and goes in the elevator to the 12th floor and then takes the stairs to the 20th. If he is with someone, or if it is raining, he takes the elevator all the way to the 20th floor.

5. A man walks into a bar and asks for a drink. The bartender suddenly jumps over the counter and screams in his face. The man says, “Thank you,” and walks out.

Notes: ________________________________________________________________________________

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Collocations

Timing 10 minutes

Materials Worksheet: Collocations, cut up into two sets of cards: verbs and nouns/adverbs (one worksheet for every group of students)

Rationale to match verbs to the word or phrase which completes them; to use one’s memory to remember where specific words are, and fix the phrases more readily in one’s memory

Procedure

1. Divide the students into groups of three or four.

2. Place two piles of cards (Worksheet: Collocations) face down on the table.

3. The first student takes a card from each pile. If the two phrases form a collocation then they keep the pair and the next student picks up a card. If the phrases do not collocate, then s/he places them face down on the table. Everybody makes a note of where the two phrases are on the table and tries to remember where they are.

4. The next student picks up two cards. If either card matches a card that has gone before, s/he is allowed to select one of the rejected cards from the table to complete the pair, but has to remember where the correct card is. S/he can only pick up one card, and can keep the cards if a collocation is formed. If that student believes that both of his/her original cards match a card on the table, another card can be chosen from the rejected cards on the table. Again, s/he must remember where the original card was and choose only once. (Each card must be returned to exactly the same place if no collocation is formed.)

5. When all the cards in the two piles have been picked up, there may still be cards lying face down on the table. Each student takes turns picking up two cards and trying to make a collocation, placing them back in the same place if they fail to do so.

6. The winner is the person who has formed the most collocations.

7. Note that there might be cards leftover, as some phrases can collocate with multiple phrases while others will only match one.

Classroom Activity

to come up with a solution

to go up in smoke

to pick up a new skill

to clean up a mess

to bottle up your feelings

to dig up some evidence

to give up candy

to write up your lecture notes

to keep up with the latest fashions

to make up a story

to put up with difficult behavior

to take up a new hobby

to live up to expectations

to stand up to a bully

to set up an organization

to bring up a child

to hang up the phone

to put up a fight

to catch up with an old friend

to sign up a recruit

to get up early

to cut up a steak

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Words from the Heart

Timing 15 minutes

Material Worksheet: Words from the Heart

Rationale to work with phrases all involving the word “heart;” to select the correct phrase in a given context and write sentences to show the understanding of the meaning of each phrase in context

Procedure

1. Ask the students to work either individually or in pairs.

2. Explain that they are going to look at some phrases which all use the word ‘heart’.

3. Give out Worksheet: Words from the Heart and ask them to complete the first task. Allow between 3 and 5 minutes.

4. Go through their answers after the first section and check that they understand each phrase in context (see key to worksheet, below).

5. Now refer to the second task on the worksheet and ask them individually to write a sentence for each phrase. The sentence must demonstrate that they have understood how the phrase is used. Allow about 5 minutes to complete the task and then collect some possible answers from the whole group.

Worksheet Key

1. A meaningful conversation: heart to heart

2. How quickly your heart beats: heart rate

3. An emotional situation: heart-rending

4. To become discouraged: to lose heart

5. The most important point of a topic: the heart of the matter

6. To re-evaluate your position: a change of heart

7. A serious medical problem: heart attack

Classroom Activity


Worksheet: Words from the Heart

Task 1

For each numbered item, choose the expression from the boxes above that means the same thing. E.g. sincerely. (Answer: from the heart)

the heart of the matter heart-rending

to have a change of heart a heart attack

heart rate from the heart

to lose heart heart to heart

1. A meaningful conversation

2. How quickly your heart beats

3. An emotional situation

4. To become discouraged

5. The most important point of a topic

6. To re-evaluate your position

7. A serious medical problem

Task 2

Write some example sentences using each of the expressions, to show that you have understood the meaning of each one. E.g., I had a heart to heart with my parents about whether to go straight to university after graduating from High School or take a gap year to travel to Europe.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

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Focus on ReadingIt is important to identify various reading skills which may present challenges for test takers and develop activities to help them overcome these challenges.

Challenge: Dealing with large amounts of information and trying to focus on the pieces which are relevant to the questions. Students may run out of time if they have to keep rereading the entire text to find answers.

Strategy: An ability to skim and scan texts will help. Skimming means reading a text quickly to get the general idea, and scanning is when you ‘read’ through a text very quickly to pick out specific pieces of information, such as a number or a name.

Challenge: Understanding meaning in context and how the vocabulary items relate to each other. E.g. For question 131 you need to understand or be able to guess the meaning of ‘ranked’ and relate its meaning to the vocabulary in the answer. This is also a key skill in the Vocabulary and Listening sections.

Strategy: Students need to be encouraged to read sections of a text rather than just focusing on individual words.

Challenge: Inability to infer meaning. E.g. in question 133 we need to infer from the phrase ‘what better opportunity’ that Mr. Mulligan should buy subscriptions for his friends at a discounted price. In question 134 test takers might not understand that the passage is comparing the instincts of an animal with those of a human. It requires an understanding of the world around us and an ability to understand imagery.

Strategy: Encourage students to think about more than the surface meaning of a word, and use their knowledge of the world around us. Understanding metaphor and idiom might also be key in understanding the texts. This is also important in the Listening section.

Challenge: Understanding the author’s purpose might cause problems. In question 140 test takers are asked to make an inference based on two different pieces of information (in sections A and C). This requires an understanding of vocabulary in context, imagery and an ability to synthesize several pieces of information and then compare them, drawing a conclusion based on that comparison.

Strategy: If students understand how texts are normally structured they can identify topic sentences and supporting clauses, and make inferences from more than one source of information.

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Understanding meaning in context This is linked very closely to the Reading section and can be practiced in conjunction with other practice for that section of the paper.

• If a word has several meanings, find short texts containing the word in each context. Give students a definition of each possible meaning, and then ask them to identify which text demonstrates that particular meaning.

• Take a reading passage and identify target words which students may find difficult. Ask them to find synonyms for these words, or phrases of similar meaning. Ask them to rewrite the relevant sentences using their synonyms.

• Give students a reading passage with certain words removed. They need to supply words which would make sense in the context. When they have finished, they can check against the original text and discuss how close they were in meaning. Is there anything in their choice which has changed the meaning of the passage, or anything which doesn’t make sense?

Metaphorical or idiomatic use

• Common phrases, such as ‘an exception to the rule’ or ‘he was green with envy’, can be used in exercises where students match idioms to definitions.

• Introduce fictional passages into reading lessons. Discuss the meaning of any metaphorical usage as a class and then ask students to rewrite the relevant parts of the text in simple factual terms to demonstrate understanding of the metaphor.

• Some students find it hard to grasp the concept of metaphor or any non-factual language use. In a monolingual class you could look at common expressions in English and compare them with a similar phrase in the students’ own language, highlighting that this abstract usage is not peculiar to English.

• Word association games: working in pairs, students could take a word, e.g. “tree” and then write down as many words that come to mind as quickly as possible. They might come up with “green,” “leaf,” “calm,” “beautiful,” “forest.” When comparing the lists teachers can encourage them to think of how they feel when they read or think of certain words, and to discuss the fact that as these are often common feelings, such associations are often used to express ideas metaphorically.

• Idioms can be grouped together to aid memory and put into gap-fill exercises. For example – idioms related to sport, e.g. “ball park,” “touch base,” “game plan,” could be presented in an exercise where students have to fit the correct idiom into a sentence so that it makes sense.

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Register and style

This ties in quite well with both the Listening and Reading sections.

• Take either a piece of listening material or a reading text and ask students to identify what type of person is speaking and in what type of situation. How can you tell from the words used? Ask them to rewrite the piece in a different register or style, perhaps more formally or in a different situation where a different kind of language is required.

• Take related articles from newspapers which are known for their different styles, or from different types of publication. Ask students to identify which newspaper or type of publication the text is from.

• Ask them to rewrite the text as though it were intended for a different type of publication, e.g. a teenage magazine or a school textbook.

• Use word puzzles such as crosswords. The clue is a synonym of the answer but in a different register.

• In a speaking exercise, you could give students a task, e.g. telling somebody what you did on the weekend. Students then role-play different scenarios where they are holding this dialogue with a different person or group of people in a different environment – perhaps with a teacher, their friends, or giving a presentation to their class. They would need to change their vocabulary and tone depending on the situation they were representing.

Grammatical implications associated with vocabulary

This involves choosing the correct form of a word, or producing a word triggered by a specific structure (e.g. countable nouns – see below).

• Present all possible forms of a word and ask students to complete sentences with the correct form.

• Use games where students are given cut-up words which they need to reassemble to form meaningful sentences.

• Give students reading texts where a target word is repeated in different forms. Ask students to identify why that form is being used in those circumstances. Alternatively, blank out the words and ask students to fill in the gaps with the correct form of the word.

• When teaching a grammatical element, e.g. adjectives, ask students to identify other forms of the words they are working with. Encourage them to build lists containing meaningful sentences demonstrating the different use of each form of the word.

• Countable nouns present their own difficulties as they can trigger the use of certain words. For example, some bread, but several loaves, a little money but a few coins. While teaching the concept of countable and uncountable nouns, students can be given several cut-up sentences containing some of the more problematic words. Without being told how many sentences they have, they can use the individual cards to make up meaningful sentences. As they use up all the elements of the sentences they will begin to realize that they may or may not have used enough words, or they may have used too many, or the remaining words don’t seem to fit together. By process of elimination they will need to work out the correct grammatical use of the given vocabulary.

• Affixation can be practiced when working with synonyms and antonyms. Give the students a list of, e.g. adjectives and a number of prefixes. Ask them to make the opposite of each adjective by adding the correct prefix. Then ask them to write sentences demonstrating the use of the “bare” adjective and its antonym.

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Word order

• Give students jumbled up sentences and ask them to rearrange them.

• Give students various versions of the same sentence with different (but correct) word order and ask them to comment on any difference in meaning or emphasis. Or you could ask questions like, “In which sentence does X seem to be the most important element?”

For example:

“I started university in 2009. I started my job in 2012.”

Compared with:

“In 2009 I started university. In 2012 I started my job.”

In the first example there is no emphasis on the date, we are simply stating facts about two events that happened one after the other. In the second example the date is emphasized. With the written word we cannot tell exactly how much emphasis is put on the date, but if these sentences were spoken, the intonation might tell us that we were comparing the dates specifically. So this exercise could work equally well in a speaking class or in a lesson where both skills are integrated.

• Take a reading passage and rearrange two or three sentences so that they either no longer sound natural, or no longer make sense. Ask the students to identify which sentences are incorrect and to arrange them in a way that sounds more naturally English.

• Introduce students to simple poems where word order may not be standard. Ask them to think about and comment on the difference in emphasis and nuance.

• Use newspaper headlines to demonstrate unusual word order and word omission. Ask students to comment on why the headline has been written like this. Ask them to write their own headlines on certain topics, whilst keeping sense in the phrase.

First language interference

This is an easier topic to deal with if the class is monolingual, or if the participants are all native speakers of the same language. Participants may have experience with a specific language group and be able to contribute experiences and an idea of which words cause particular problems. Latin-based languages frequently have a problem with words like sensitive and sensible and other false friends or confusing words which are used differently in English.

• Create sample sentences highlighting the difference in meaning between confusing words.

• Create texts containing an incorrect false friend. Students have to identify which sentences use the words correctly, and which contain the false friend.

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ECCE sample reading texts are a very good source of material for classroom activities.

Prediction activitiesUseful for both reading and listening activities.

Give students the titles of passages and ask them to guess what is going to happen in that passage. Where passages are related, as in the ECCE Reading section, you could give them the title and pictures and ask them to write a couple of sentences predicting the content. They can then read the text to confirm their expectations.

Reading for gist and general comprehension

Speed-reading exercises to practice skimming. Use the longest passage and give students no more than 1 minute to read it and write a sentence to describe what it is about.

Scanning activities

Set questions about times, dates and addresses and see how quickly students can find the information. See Classroom Activity: Finding Information to see an example of this.

• Remove the pictures from the texts (include more texts from websites related to food and picnics) and give students a set of pictures separately. The students have to assign the correct picture to each text – so for example, Passage B is about a family event, so students should be able to select the picture with the child holding a balloon, as soon as they have read the subheading ‘employees and families’.

• Jigsaw reading activities across all the texts. Cut up the texts and ask students to reassemble them. They will have to understand the gist of what is happening in each passage so that they can separate the pieces out and put them under the right title, and then they will need to understand paragraph structure and linking phrases to reassemble the texts in a logical way.

• Where students have access to the internet, you could ask them to research other charitable organizations which provide food to the poor. Students could print off their own articles and write gist comprehension questions for other members of the class. Each group would then swap articles with another group and complete the exercise. As an extension activity which would help prepare them for the Speaking Test, they could compare their own article with that of another group and prepare a short presentation about the differences in the two organizations, perhaps giving their opinions on which approach is best.

• Gap-fill activities can help you teach grammatical features and help students understand vocabulary in context and various aspects of word formation and usage.

You could find an article on the internet about a dish that is typical in a foreign country. You could then write out a set of instructions about how to make the dish, but leave gaps for the students to fill in. They would need to find the relevant information for the gaps from the article. This would involve synthesizing detail and a certain degree of inference.

Lessons using ECCE sample materials

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Questions from Readers

Q: Is it true that ostriches often bury their heads in the sand?— Thomas Mulligan, Detroit, MI

A: People often say that when danger approaches ostriches bury their heads in the sand. However, this is a myth that probably comes from a misunderstanding of one of the bird’s defensive behaviors. Sometimes, when they see potential pred-ators, ostriches will try to “hide” by lying low and stretching their long necks flat on the ground. This way, from a distance, they look like bushes, or part of the landscape. To people observing ostriches trying to camouflage themselves this way, it may

appear that the birds are burying their heads in the ground.

Unfortunately, this common misconception about ostriches has given them a sad reputation as defenseless animals. Nevertheless, this could not be further from the truth. Ostriches are the largest bird in the world. Growing to be 7 to 9 feet (2.1 to 2.7 meters) tall, the ostrich is taller than the average man. They use their long, powerful legs to defend themselves when necessary. In fact, an ostrich can kill a lion with a single, well-placed kick!

— Margaret Holmes, Animal Biologist

To submit questions to experts at Science and You, please send an email to: [email protected]

Let us know what you think of Science and You. Please visit our website at www.scienceandyoumagazine.com/survey and complete our customer satisfaction survey.

A

B

C

D

Science and You Magazine Marketing Manager Needed

Science and You, ranked among the top ten mag-azines in the country, seeks a marketing manager. Candidates must have excellent communication skills and be able to work well with others.

Main responsibilities:

• Designing marketing strategies to increase the number of subscribers

• Organizing customer satisfaction surveys

Minimum qualifications:

• Master’s degree in business

• Two years of management experience

For more information and application instructions, please visit the Science and You website at: www.scienceandyoumagazine.com/employment

From: Science and You <[email protected]>To: Thomas Mulligan <[email protected]>

Dear Mr. Mulligan,

Thank you for renewing your subscription to Science and You! You’ve made a smart decision to continue receiving Science and You every month.

We’ve confirmed your choice to renew your subscrip-tion for two years. As a long-term customer, you get a 70% discount on additional subscriptions. What better opportunity to send friends a gift subscription, so they too can enjoy reading Science and You?

Please visit our website www.scienceandyoumag-azine.com/subscriptions to learn more about dis-counts, or if you need to change your mailing address.

Again, thank you for subscribing to Science and You! It is our pleasure to conveniently deliver this source of interesting up-to-date science information to you and your family.

Sincerely,

Science and You Team

Management Instincts by Susan Lin, Career Advisor

In the business world, instincts are an im-portant management tool.

Some managers are extremely goal-orient-ed. Like tigers, their instincts help them work precisely and fast. However, they tend to be aggressive and not work very well with others. This can lead to an uncomfortable office environment.

Other managers have excellent social instincts and communicate well with others. Nevertheless, they have difficulty dealing with conflicts. Like ostriches, they bury their heads in the sand and hide from problems rather than confront them.

Clearly, natural instincts have both positive and negative aspects. Those managers who learn to monitor their instincts and adapt their behavior are the most effective.

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Question 131 refers to section A.

131. In the first sentence, what does the phrase ranked among the top 10 refer to?

a. years in businessb. costc. popularityd. number of employees

Questions 132 –133 refer to section B.

132. Why did Mr. Mulligan receive this email?

a. He recently renewed his subscription.b. He changed his mailing address.c. He requested information about

discounts.d. He bought the magazine for a friend.

133. What does the email encourage Mr. Mulligan to do?

a. renew his subscriptionb. tell friends how to get a discountc. give somebody a subscriptiond. send comments to the editors of a

magazine

Questions 134 – 135 refer to section C.

134. In paragraph 2, why does the author mention tigers?

a. to compare the instincts of humans and tigers

b. to explain how some managers behavec. to explain why some managers have

difficulty working fastd. to describe how people can become less

aggressive

135. According to the last paragraph, how should managers handle their instincts?

a. They should try to change them.b. They should always trust them.c. They should never follow them.d. They should pay attention to them.

Questions 136 – 138 refer to section D.

136. What is the main point of section D?

a. A common belief about an animal is wrong.

b. Scientists don’t understand an animal’s behavior.

c. One animal has changed its habits to survive.

d. Some animals protect themselves better than others.

137. In paragraph 2, why does the author mention the average man?

a. to give an example of ostrich predatorsb. to emphasize how big ostriches arec. to contrast how fast ostriches and people

growd. to explain how ostriches got their

reputation

138. What is the main point of paragraph 2?

a. The reputation ostriches have is well deserved.

b. The future of ostriches is in danger. c. Ostriches are more aggressive than lions.d. Ostriches are able to defend themselves.

Questions 139 – 140 refer to sections A, B, C, and D.

139. Which sections encourage readers to contact the publisher?

a. sections A, B, and Cb. sections A, B, and Dc. sections B, C, and Dd. all sections

140. What is probably true about the people who are compared to tigers in section C?

a. They would not be hired as managers by Science and You.

b. They would not subscribe to Science and You.

c. They would receive an award at Science and You.

d. They would be good instructors at Science and You.

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ATo: Solutions Tech Supervisors From: [email protected]: Company Picnic

Dear Supervisors,

This is a reminder about our annual company picnic on June 15. We still need managers to volunteer to help out.

• Set up children’s activities (2–4 p.m.)

• Greet employees (5–7 p.m.)

• Assist with games (5–7 p.m. or 7–9 p.m.)

• Collect food donations (5–7 p.m. or 7–9 p.m.)

We want to make this a great event for all our employees. If you can lend a hand, contact me by June 1. Please state activity and time shift preference.

Sincerely,Gloria Jones, Planning Committee

City Food Bank is running extremely low on canned goods and other nonperishable foods.

To meet the need, City Food Bank is urging community groups, neighborhood clubs, and local businesses to hold food drives. “We are in particular need right now because of the bad weather that hit our community. Many homes were flooded last

month, so many people who don’t normally use our service came in for food assistance.”

City Food Bank is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to reducing hunger. It is the oldest food-relief agency in the Riverside area. It is located at 549 Park Road, Riverside, and donations are accepted every day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

City Food Bank in Urgent Need of Donations

B

For even more fun and maybe starting a new tradition, we’re having a circus at our annual company picnic. As usual, we’ll provide lots of good food and drink and live music. Our charity event this year is a collection for the City Food Bank.

JBJ Circus will perform under the Big Tent.• The Amazing Acrobats: The Rossi Family • SoJo the Clown and His White Dog• Clara and Her Dancing Horses

Also, special children’s games and activities including face painting and clown magic.

All Solutions Tech Company employees and familiesJune 15, 5 p.m.–9 p.m.

Don’t forget to bring along a donation for City Food Bank.

Executive Profile: Jeff Blackstone Chief Development Officer, Solutions Tech Company

Jeff Blackstone, CDO of Solutions Tech Company, the largest computer-support business in Mich-igan, likes working with people as much as with computers.

Blackstone believes that success on the job is tied to several factors. One is that employees have fun

together when they are not working. He is pleased that his com-pany is even bringing in a circus for their annual company picnic.

Blackstone worked for several years in computer development before studying organizational psychology at State University. He believes some companies’ employees end up just doing jobs they are good at but don’t like. He thinks that is a formula for stress on a worker. At Solutions Tech, Blackstone’s primary responsibility is to match employees with the kind of tasks they like and do best.

Since joining Solutions Tech eight years ago, he’s been earning the praise of the employees there as well as the respect of the whole community for his support of local charities. “One of the charities that I think is so important is City Food Bank,” said Blackstone. Blackstone volunteers at the food bank once a month. He added that he’s really looking forward to the company picnic where he’ll be personally helping City Food Bank build up its food supply.

C

D

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Question 141 refers to section A.

141. What is the main purpose of section A?

a. to find out who needs volunteersb. to get help with a company eventc. to encourage people to attend an eventd. to announce the time of a company picnic

Questions 142 – 143 refer to section B.

142. What should people take to the event?

a. picnic food and drinks for their familyb. an item to donate to the food bankc. games for children to playd. money to attend the circus

143. What will be available for the first time this year?

a. food and drinksb. live musicc. circus performancesd. charity collection

Questions 144 – 145 refer to section C.

144. Why does the food bank need donations now?

a. It is the only place hungry people can get food.

b. Food there has become quite old.c. More people than usual have used it

recently.d. It does not have any canned goods

available.

145. What kind of food would be an acceptable donation?

a. eggsb. fresh fruitc. breadd. dried beans

Questions 146 – 148 refer to section D.

146. What is the main purpose of section D?

a. to help City Food Bankb. to attract a new chief development officerc. to clarify the business of a large computer

companyd. to provide information about a Solutions

Tech employee

147. What did Blackstone do before working where he does now?

a. worked with computersb. taught psychology at a universityc. did financial planning at a bankd. managed a charity

148. In the third sentence of paragraph 3, what does that refer to?

a. workers doing jobs that they don’t likeb. workers doing jobs that they’re not good

atc. employees afraid of losing their jobsd. employees having too much work to do

Questions 149 – 150 refer to refer to sections A, B, C, and D.

149. Which sections include information about a company event?

a. A, B, and Cb. A, B, and Dc. A, C, and Dd. B, C, and D

150. What will Jeff Blackstone probably be doing on June 15?

a. setting up children’s activitiesb. collecting food donationsc. assisting with gamesd. greeting employees

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Classroom ActivityTiming 5 minutes

Materials Worksheet: Finding Information

Rationale to practice skimming and scanning to identify pieces of information

Procedure

1. Give out Worksheet: Finding Information. Explain to the students that these texts are typical of those they will find in the Reading section, and that it is very important that they can read quickly if they want to do well in the exam. They should also read the questions before reading the texts. That way they will know what they are looking for.

2. Explain that these questions are not the same as those they will find in the exam, but they are designed to make them find information quickly.

3. Ask them to work individually to complete the questions on the worksheet, and then go through the answers with them (see key to worksheet, below).

Key (Worksheet)

1. A man who studied Organizational Psychology at university: D

2. A request for volunteers: A

3. An organization located on Park Road, Riverside: C

4. Dancing horses: B

5. Information about children’s activities: A and B

6. A reference to the City Food Bank: B, C and D

7. Canned food: C

8. An email address: A

9. A Chief Development Officer: D

10. Community groups: C

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Worksheet: Finding Information

In which passage(s) can you find the following?

1. A man who studied Organizational Psychology at university

2. A request for volunteers

3. An organization located on Park Road, Riverside

4. Dancing horses

5. Information about children’s activities

6. A reference to the City Food Bank

7. Canned food

8. An email address

9. A Chief Development Officer

10. Community groups

Notes: ___________________________________________________________________________________

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grammar, vocabulary, reading (gvr) test skill ......3 abgecgan.og teachers preparing students for...

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