Thursday 14 January 2016
Tuesday 12 January 2016
B1.2 EXAM
Reading: 30'
- gapped text
- T/F
- multiple choice
Listening: 30'
- T/F
- multiple choice
- gap filling
- open questions
Writing: 45'
- an article
- an informal letter or e-mail
Speaking: 3'
- 2' note taking
Talking: 4-5'
- 1' preparation
Topics:
- names and brands
- colours
- personality
- travelling
- shopping
- childhood, memories
- photography
- environment
Read the article
about taking a gap year before going to university. Five sentences have been
removed. Choose from the sentences A–G the one which fits each gap (1–5). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.
A The second most important was that they wanted to find out more
about themselves.
B And while living abroad was a good way for her to learn a language,
her other academic skills suffered.
C She needed time for herself, and actually found that the whole
experience increased her interest in art.
D They have different reasons for wanting to do this.
E A few weeks of living in a hut was enough to change her mind.
F But nowadays, organized gap-year programmes are becoming more
popular there too.
G So, after secondary school, she took a gap year – a year off before
going to university.
Filling in the gaps
18-year-old Monika Lutz had
dreams of a career helping to solve economic and social problems in poor
countries. 0 G During that time, she worked
with a company that is trying to bring solar power to villages in such
countries.
A growing number of students are
deciding to take a gap year. 1 Some want to try out a career to see if
they like it, while others travel with the aim of seeing more of the world.
Others want to make some money, but doing unpaid work is also popular, as is
taking classes in something completely different from school subjects.
Gap years have been common for
many years in the United Kingdom. This hasn’t been the case in the United
States, however. 2 These help students who haven’t made their
own plans for their year off to prepare for it or find work. More colleges and
universities are introducing new rules to allow students to delay entry to
higher education more easily. There are at least 30 ‘gap fairs’ all over the
country which advertise various programmes.
After joining a gap-year
programme last June, Casey Santi, 18, of Winnetka, Illinois, studied French and
History, travelled, and did community work in Europe and Africa. According to
Casey, stress during the final year of high school put her off going straight
to university. 3 This left her better
prepared for starting her degree in the subject.
Several surveys seem to show that
Casey is not the only student saying that stress during the last years of
school causes them to ‘burn out’. In one survey, carried out by authors Karl
Haigler and Rae Nelson for their guidebook on the topic of gap years, students
said this was the main reason they wanted to have a year off. 4 The writers also discovered that
students who take a gap year seem to have more energy and enthusiasm for their
subject when they do start university.
Beth
Parker says her gap year experience meant a complete turnaround. She knew going
to university straight after school would have been a waste because she just
wasn’t ready. However, 12 months later, Beth is now in her first year of a
degree course. She’s doing well and getting very good grades. She’s even become the editor of the
university magazine. So gap years may work out well for many students. Monika
Lutz, for example, realized after her year abroad that she was not ready to
spend her whole life solving the problems of poor countries. 5 She now plans to look into other careers. So
if you are thinking about taking a gap year, the best thing is to do your
research and think carefully about your reasons for doing it.
Monday 11 January 2016
Travel, trip and journey
The explanations should help clarify the meaning and use of vocabulary related to travel.
Travel | The word 'travel' is used to talk about going from one place to another. It can be a verb, a noun or an adjective :
|
Trip | The word trip is used to talk about a short journey somewhere for a purpose, business or pleasure.
|
Journey | A journey is the distance covered when travelling from one place to another. 'Journey' can refer to a long distance or a short regular one.
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