Exam Tips for English in Current Affairs

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Exam Tips forEnglish in Current Affairs

• Presented by
• Gao Chunli

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Overview

1. What information should you know about the final
   exam?
2. What skills can you adopt when sitting for the
   final exam?
3. How can you effectively deal with the special
   question items in the final exam?

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1. What information should you know about
the final exam?

• Exam structure
• Item types

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1.1 Exam Structure written paper
Section I Section II Section III
Skill Listening Reading Writing
Time 30 min. 60min. 30 min.
Score 25 50 25
Content 3 listening pieces (1 conversation, 2 monologues) 4 reading texts (average 600 words each) Topic selected from the units (150-200 words)
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1.1 Exam Structure oral test
Pre-test Section 1 Section II
Skill (Info. processing) Conversation Conversation
Score NA 50 50
Time 10 min 5 min 5 min
Content Look at the topics and think alone. A asks initiates and B responds. B asks initiates and A responds.
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1.2 Item Types
Written test Listening Dictation, Multiple-choice, True/False
Written test Reading Summary Blank-filling, Paragraph reordering, Matching, True/False/Not mentioned, Multiple-choice, Short answer questions,
Written test Writing Essay writing
Oral test Speaking Conversations
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2. What skills can you adopt when sitting
for the final exam?

• Oral exam
• Written exam

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2.1 Oral Exam Dos and donts (1)

• When in the preparation room
• Do focus your preparation on the two topics the
  information to be included and the key sentence
  structure and vocabulary to be presented.
• Dont talk to your partners.
• Dont make notes on the exam paper.
• Dont use dictionaries.

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2.1 Oral Exam Dos and donts (2)

• When in the exam room
• Be careful with your body language (gesture, eye
  contact, facial expressions).
• Dont be silent. If your partner gets stuck, say
  something to keep the conversation going or to
  invite your partners responses. If you cant
  quite understand your partner, ask your partner
  to repeat or rephrase.
• Dont overdo your role, giving no chance to your
  partner.
• Dont ask the examiner(s) about your performance.
• Dont read from the exam paper.

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2.2 Oral Exam When youre Part A (1)

• Initiate the conversation properly.
• Ask B the questions concerning the topic.
• Make brief comments on the answers given by B.
• Repeat or paraphrase the questions if B fails to
  understand you.
• Give your opinions of the questions if B holds
  his/her tongue.
• End the conversation properly.

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2.2 Oral Exam When youre Part A (2)

• Lets take the sample test paper as an example
• A Hello, B! Havent seen you for a long time. I
  heard youve just finished your studies in the
  UK. Did you enjoy your studies there?
• B
• A Wow, what a wonderful experience! I wish I
  could also have an opportunity to study abroad in
  the future. Do you think the British educational
  system is superior to that in China?
• B
• A In other words, is the British educational
  system better than that in China?
• B

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2.2 Oral Exam When youre Part A (3)

• A I dont know much about the British
  educational system, but I think the Chinese
  educational system is
• B
• A I quite agree with you. The officials in the
  Ministry of Education and the teachers nationwide
  have already realized these problems, and I
  believe the situation will change for the better
  in the future. Thanks for sharing with me your
  views on education. I hope we can meet soon so
  that you can tell me more about your life and
  studies in Britain.

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2.3 Oral Exam When youre Part B (1)

• Give the relevant answer to As question.
• Try to use some of the theme-related words,
• phrases or sentence structures in the textbook.
• Ask A to repeat or paraphrase his/her question if
  you fail to catch it.
• Invite As answer to the question if you dont
  have a ready answer yourself when A is answering
  the question, organize your thought quickly and
  get ready to give your answers afterwards.

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2.3 Oral Exam When youre Part B (2)

• Lets take the sample test paper as an example
• A Hello, B! Havent seen you for a long time. I
  heard youve just finished your studies in the
  UK. Did you enjoy your studies there?
• B Yes, I had a very enjoyable experience there
• A Wow, what a wonderful experience! I wish I
  could also have an opportunity to study abroad in
  the future. Do you think the British educational
  system is superior to that in China?
• B Sorry, I didt follow you. Could you please
  repeat your question?

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2.3 Oral Exam When youre Part B (3)

• A I mean, is the British educational system
  better than that in China?
• B I cant say which one is better, Im afraid.
  But these two systems are indeed different from
  each other. In Britain, children usually start
  school at 5. Many may have attended the nursery
  school or kindergarten before then. From 5 to 11,
  they attend the primary school, and they
  transfer to the secondary school at 11
• A Youve given a very interesting description of
  the British educational system. Compared with it,
  in what ways can the Chinese educational system
  be improved?
• B As youve been brought up to it, could I first
  have your opinion about the Chinese educational
  system?

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2.4 Written Exam Dos and donts about the exam
papers

• Do write your name, your student ID number and
  your learning center on both papers.
• Do examine before you start that the test paper
  does not miss pages.
• Do hand in both papers when you finish the exam.
• Do write your answers on the Answer Sheet.
• Do write your answers beside the corresponding
  question numbers.
• Dont miss questions.

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3 How can you effectively deal with the special
question items in the final exam?

• Paragraph reordering
• Short answer questions

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3.1 Exam Techniques Paragraph reordering (1)
Case study Passage 2, sample test
paper Questions 36-41 Paragraphs B to G are in a
wrong order. Reorder them and complete the table
below. Paragraph A has been done for you. Write
your answers on the Answer Sheet.
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3.1 Exam Techniques Paragraph reordering (2)

• You should have found the beginning and/or last
  sentences useful in judging the sequence of these
  paragraphs
• B We were told that Easter house housing estate
  in Glasgow is considered Emotionally and
  mentally they were far worse off
• C Tackling poverty isnt just about improving
  physical and economic conditionsWe cant
  calculate progress only through one set of terms.
• D Then, in 1994, to visit housing estates in
  inner city England and Scotland
• E In Britain, we met young people whoBut the
  story reminded us of our teachers finding clothes
  for local India kids
• F It occurred to us then thatusing a very
  narrow definition
• G Weve fallen into the trap of looking at
  poverty only from the point of view of material
  benefits In reality they suffered as much social
  deprivation

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3.1 Exam techniques Paragraph reordering (3)

• The whole passage should read like this
• (A Years ago I heard a Frenchman say)
• (D) Then, in 1994, to visit housing estates in
  inner city England and Scotland.
• (B) We were told that Easter house housing estate
  in Glasgow is considered Emotionally and
  mentally they were far worse off
• (G) Weve fallen into the trap of looking at
  poverty only from the point of view of material
  benefits In reality they suffered as much social
  deprivation
• (E) In Britain, we met young people whoBut the
  story reminded us of our teachers finding clothes
  for local India kids
• (F) It occurred to us then thatusing a very
  narrow definition.
• (C) Tackling poverty isnt just about improving
  physical and economic conditionsWe cant
  calculate progress only through one set of terms.

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3.1 Exam Techniques Paragraph reordering (4)
The correct order of this passage, therefore,
should be
A
(38) G
(39) E
(40) F
(41) C
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Summary of Paragraph reordering

• Read through the jumbled paragraphs, catching the
  main idea of each of them.
• Read through the jumbled paragraphs again, trying
  to establish the logical connections among them
  through focusing on the topic sentences, the
  concluding sentences and the discourse markers.
• Read through the paragraphs in the order in which
  you have arranged them, checking if they can fit
  into each other in content and structure.

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3.2 Exam Techniques Short-answer questions (1)
Case study Passage 4, sample test
paper Questions 50-55 Give brief answers to the
following questions. Write your answers on the
Answer Sheet. 50. What has the high-tech
revolution brought to the modern world? 51. What
usually happens to the old parts of computers?
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3.2 Exam techniques Short-answer questions (2)
50. What has the high-tech revolution brought to
the modern world?
To answer this question, you read the following
sentences in paragraph 1and should have found the
underlined parts useful
The high-tech revolution has inspired a
seemingly endless stream of new and exciting
electronic products that we just cannot live
without. In fact, the dizzying speed of
technological innovation can make last years
must-have this years junk.
You can then summarize what the high-tech
revolution has brought to the modern world
as Exciting products and harmful waste.
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3.2 Exam techniques Short-answer questions (3)
51. What usually happens to the old parts of
computers?
To answer this question, you read the following
sentences in paragraph 1and should have found the
underlined parts useful
So what happen to all those old keyboards,
monitors, organizers and CPUs? Most are stashed
away in the attic and forgotten in a corporate
warehouse, taking up valuable space. But many end
up in landfills, and that is where the trouble
really begins.
It is not difficult, then, to figure out its
answer They are stashed away in the attic,
forgotten in the companys warehouse or end up in
landfills.
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Summary of Short-answer questions

• Provide the answer clearly either in phrases or
  in complete sentences.
• Keep the answer concise, written in at the most
  three sentences.
• Avoid grammar or spelling mistakes.
• Dont have to copy the sentences from the text.
  Answers given in your own words are preferred.

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Review

• By the end of this final exam orientation,
• have you learned about the
• 1. structure and focuses of the final exam?
• 2. skills for you to use when sitting for the
  final exam?
• 3. exam techniques for some special item types?

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The end.

• Wish you great success with the final exam!