Exam Strategy: Reading. How to Complete the Tasks Successfully

Active Vocabulary

reading proficiency

proper usage

matching

different strategies

reducing uncertainty

gapped text

prior conceptual and linguistic competence

Speaking

Reading comprehension

misguided

revenge

suspect

suburb

vehicle

brand new

rear-view

detour

Aims:

•to develop reading proficiency;•to improve the proper usage of different

strategies for reducing uncertainty;•to train to be selective about the use of

available cues;•to draw deeply on prior conceptual and

linguistic competence.

Continue the phrase: After this lesson…

I think we’ll…

I hope we’ll…

I guess we’ll…

Maybe we’ll…

We might…

I’m sure that..

…and, we definitely are going:

to enjoy this lesson ;) to pass exams successfully

to follow “3L”rule: Lifelong Language Learning

• Which of them seem to you the most complicated?

• What attracts your attention while reading?

• Do you really need to understand every new word?

So, you know that B1-B2 levelsoften include tasks connected with:

• Gapped texts• True/False statements• Matching• Multiple choice

It is VERY important to know what type of exam task you are required to do, as this knowledge will determine what pieces of information you should focus on while reading and what reading strategies you should use.

Reading ComprehensionGeneral Exam Strategies (ac. Exam

Activator)Predicting the entire

content of the text

Information from the text VS your

general knowledgeof the world

Matching the information in the

text to the questions

By looking at this text, try to establish it’s type. After this you’ll find it easier to predict its structure. Remember

to always read the entire text to get the idea of what isit about. This knowledge will help you to identify

what pieces of information you should concentrate on

Exam question often refer to well-known phenomena and problems, you should not let your knowledge affectthe way you do the exam task. Before you decide what

answer is correct, you should always ask yourself:“ Does the text really say this? ”

Remember: your starting point is the TEXT

When completing an exam task it is useful to first locate the part of the text that contains the information matching

the question you are considering. After this you will not have to concentrate on the whole text to find the

answer you need, but just on the paragraph.

Finding the right kind of information

Guessing the meaning of

unknown words

Vocabulary and

grammar paraphrases

Note, that the information you need to successfully complete the task may be of different length and form: It can be a single word, a sentence or a larger part of the text. Reading the questions, try to predict what kind of info is needed, as it influences the way you read.

Don’t panic if you see unknown words ;) Don’t focus your attention at them, as it can block the entire process of understanding the text. Remember!!! Your task is to find the necessary information and not to understand all words in the text

Exam questions are typically constructed in a such way that the information from the text is conveyed by means of vocabulary and grammar paraphrases.Vocabulary paraphrases: synonyms and antonyms.Grammar paraphrases include: tenses, conditionals, comparatives, quantifiers, negations and reported speech

FINDING THE RIGHT KIND OF INFORMATIONRead the text below. For questions 1-2, choose the correct answer A-D. For questions

3-4, decide if the sentences are true (T) or false (F). Underline the parts of the text which helped you answer the questions.

1.Briony knew it would be a typical day whenA she was waking up.B her alarm was ringing.C she got to the bathroom.D she was having her shower.

2. In the kitchen A she asked her mother for a glass of milk. B the bread was gone but there were some eggs. C there was a news programme on TV. D she heard some surprising news on the radio.

•Briony’s family had no idea she played Lotto every week.•Briony’s jeans were in her room, but the coupon was gone.

BRIONY’S LUCKY DAYEven when Briony was half-asleep, she knew it would be one of those days. She was even more

certain about when she realized her alarm clock wasn’t working; and she was absolutely sure when she couldn’t get to the bathroom because her sister Jess has decided to take a very long shower. Yes, it was going to be another very unlucky day in her boring, sixteen-year-long existence.

Feeling sad and unhappy, she went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of milk. Of course, there was no bread, no mention of eggs. She switched on the radio. An earthquake in Peru… floods in England…storms in Mexico…Great, Briony thought, it like that all over the world. But then the voice on the radio said something else, something like ‘… and your lucky number is…’ Briony pushed the glass away and ran back to her bedroom.

For two months, every week Briony played Lotto, without telling anybody. And now, the voice on the radio said ‘ten’, and she knew it was the number she’d chosen. Yes! The coupon was in her jeans. She looked around. But the jeans were gone, and she could hear her mother shout happily from the bathroom downstairs, ‘Briony, don’t look for your jeans! It’s your lucky day and they are finally being washed!’

MISGUIDED REVENGEJack and Susan Taylor livedIn 0 a quiet suburb of Knoxville. He worked for thelocal building company andshe was a secretary at Bankof America.

1______ some time Jack had suspected that Susan was having a love affair 2____ withanother man, but he had no proof. Having the job he had, Jack couldn’t stay around thehouse all day 3______ check up on his wife and make sure

everything was right.

Then, one summer day, quiteunexpectedly, his boss gave jack an address 4______ wasonly a couple of blocks away from his own house. Thinking that the little detour could go unnoticed, he drove by his homeand, sure enough, the bedroomcurtains 5_____ drawn and brand new BMW was parkedright in front of the house. Jack acted without giving a secondthought to what he was doing.

He positioned 6_____ vehicleNext to the flashy red car and loaded a full ton 7_______cement into it.

‘Justice has been done’, he thought as he prepared to drive away. He sat into the driver’s seat and looked into the rear-view mirror only to notice 8______ sporty young man leave his house and hop on a bike at the bottom of his garden path.

Below you will find examples of wrong answers. Explain why they are incorrect.

1 since ____ 5 ___had______2 ___from_____ 6 ____________3 __in order to__ 7 ___off_______4 ___where____ 8 ___the______

Skim the text again. In which of the gaps were you supposed to:

a) Put in an article?b) Put in a preposition?c) Complete a passive structure?d) Put in a possessive pronoun?e) Put in a relative pronoun?f) Complete a verb pattern?

So,

Today’s activities made me feel…

I’m sure, now I can…

I’ve understood that…

The most helpful tip for me was…

I do hope I’ll be able to…

In class I don’t like…

This year I’m studying English because…

To learn English at home I can…

Leslie Anne Hendra: methodologist, author, working for Cambridge University Press March 30, 2012, Kiev

So, whatever you do, you should always continue aiming high!!!

Thank you !!!