Tomorrow's classes

Hello everyone,

I still haven't received any suggestions from you regarding specific skills you'd like to concentrate on this week.

Please email me by the end of today (Monday).

Many thanks

Katie

Interesting concert in Cambridge tomorrow-02/03/2013

If you have no plans for Saturday night, this is a place to be and a concert to see!

JESUS CUTIÑO y SON D'CUBA are coming to play in Cambridge!


When: Saturday March 2nd, doors open 8pm, band on stage 9.30pm
Where: USC (University Social Club), Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RX

USC (University Social Club), Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RX
Free parking available along Queen's Rd and Trumpington St., open air pay park Hilton Doubletree on Granta place, covered pay park on Downing St.

Doors open 8pm, band on stage 9.30pm, party ends 1am.
Prices: advance booking £12 (NUS £7), at the door £15 (NUS £8).

Hope to see you there

Best

Katie

Interesting concert in Cambridge-tomorrow 2/03/2013

If you have no plans for Saturday night, this is a place to be and a concert to see!

JESUS CUTIÑO y SON D'CUBA are coming to play in Cambridge!


When: Saturday March 2nd, doors open 8pm, band on stage 9.30pm
Where: USC (University Social Club), Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RX

USC (University Social Club), Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RX
Free parking available along Queen's Rd and Trumpington St., open air pay park Hilton Doubletree on Granta place, covered pay park on Downing St.

Doors open 8pm, band on stage 9.30pm, party ends 1am.
Prices: advance booking £12 (NUS £7), at the door £15 (NUS £8).

Hope to see you there

Best

Katie

Grammar for IELTS

Hi everyone,

Here are the book titles you mind find helpful when revising grammar specifically for IELTS:

"Grammar for IELTS" by Diana Hopkins with Pauline Cullen. CUP 2011

"IELTS Language Practice" by M. Vince
http://www.amazon.com/Ielts-Language-Practice-English-Vocabulary/dp/0230410561

All the best

Katie

Gerund & Infinitive

Hi everyone!

I'm really glad we worked on gerund & infinitive today. Here's the link to a comprehensive handout on verb patterns:

Verb Patterns

Remember that there are free tutorials available on http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/index.htm

Happy reading and see you next week for the final IELTS mock exam.

Best

Katie

Cambridge Science Festival

Hi everyone!

The 2013 Cambridge Science Festival runs between 11 and 24 March! It is a great opportunity to take part in scientific activity at the University of Cambridge.

The timetable is now available online.

Have a look!

Best

Katie

Cambridge Science Festival

Hi everyone!

The 2013 Cambridge Science Festival runs between 11 and 24 March! It is a great opportunity to take part in scientific activity at the University of Cambridge.

The timetable is now available online.

Have a look!

Best

Katie

IELTS Reading Test (Answers)

Dear all,

Here are the answers to the Reading Passage 1:
1. secret weapon
2. [100] suits
3. potential
4. YES
5. NO
6. NOT GIVEN
7. NOT GIVEN
8. message
9. promises
10. flatter
11. concerned
12. decision
13. sport
14. bid

For extra grammar practice please visit www.englishpage.com

For extra listening practice please visit www.esl-lab.com

See you next week!

Best

Katie

Impersonal Passive/Reporting Structures Additional Exercises

Hello everyone,

Please find the link to Impersonal Passive exercise with the key below.

I suggest you first go through the theory and then the sentences. Hope it will be a good grammar and writing practice.

Impersonal Passive

Answers to additional Reading Task

Hello everyone,

Please find the answers to the additional reading task I've posted earlier this week.

Reading- Part 1

1. C

2. C

3. D

4. B

5. B

6. B

7. C

8. C

9. C

10. A

Reading-Part 2

11. False

12. True

13. False

14. Not Given

15. True

16. True

17. False

18. True

19. True

20. True

Reading Part-3

21. E

22. G

23. A

24. C

25. D

Reminder

Dear students,

Just a quick reminder about Speaking MOCK exam today.

See you later.

Best

Katie

EXTRA Reading Material

Hi everyone,

Here's the copy of the additional reading practice for IELTS.

I will post the answers by the end of this week.

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 15 minutes on Questions 1-10, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below. Please choose the right answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

The news

The two American astronauts, Bob Gary and John Gordon, have safely returned to the Earth. They were picked up this morning by a US naval ship shortly after their capsule landed in the Pacific some 250 miles from the spot originally planned for the landing. The American authorities have given no reason for the new landing site, but the two men are reported to be in good health, although extremely tired. They have been in space for 41 days. An official report from Washington today states that there have been a number of problems on this flight, but that will not affect the next flight due to take off in a month's time.

In Germany, the trial begins today of the five terrorists who hijacked a German passenger liner last July and held the liner and its 450 passengers hostage for a week. At the time, the hijackers were demanding the release of a number of political prisoners in various countries around the world. The shipping company that owns the liner says that the incident has cost them hundreds of dollars. A spokesman for the company has said that they are confident the five men will receive the maximum sentence that a German court can impose.

Two teenagers had to be rescued from a steep mountainside in Scotland earlier today. The two boys, both from Birmingham, had been on a two-day climb with a group of ten others. The boys had become separated from the others and it wasn't until late yesterday afternoon that the alarm was raised and a search party of climbers was organised. Climbers quickly discovered that one of the boys had a broken leg and he was taken off the mountain by helicopter and flown to the nearest hospital. It is believed that the two went off exploring on their own and then got stuck on the cliff.

After the long Bank Holiday weekend, traffic is still reported to be very heavy on roads leading to London and Bristol from the south coast. The police have advised drivers to be extremely careful, not only because of the amount of traffic on the roads but also because of the heavy rain storms. A spokesman said: 'The heavy falls that we have had in the past hours have made many roads dangerous.'

And finally, the weather. The first period of rain will be followed by warm, sunny patches. The night will be dry in most parts.

1. Two American astronauts landed

A. Where planned.

B. On a US naval ship.

C. Far from the scheduled place.

D. 150 miles from the Pacific.

2. The flight next month

A. Will take off from a naval ship in the Pacific.

B. Has been put off for technical reasons.

C. Will go ahead as planned.

D. Will last as long as the last one.

3. Why did the terrorists hijack the liner?

A. They wanted to frighten the passengers.

B. They had all worked for the shipping company at one time.

C. They wanted thousands of dollars.

D. They wanted political prisoners to be freed.

4. The terrorists will definitely

A. Pay back hundreds of dollars.

B. Get the highest possible sentence.

C. Receive maximum number of sentences.

D. Impose the maximum sentence.

5. The passengers of the liner were ______ the hijackers.

A. Hosts of.

B. Detained by.

C. Kidnapped by.

D. Killed by

6. The two boys had problems

A. When they saw a helicopter.

B. While they were climbing on their own.

C. While they were visiting Birmingham.

D. When it became foggy.

7. The climbers started looking for the boys

A. Not later than yesterday.

B. Earlier today.

C. Before dark yesterday.

D. Until yesterday.

8. Who found them?

A. Their guide.

B. The helicopter pilot.

C. A rescue mission.

D. A Scottish camper.

9. What has the weather been like in the past hours?

A. Hot and sunny.

B. Very cold.

C. Very wet.

D. Foggy.

10. Met. Office reports ______ weather tomorrow.

A. Fairly good.

B. Fairly bad.

C. Very good.

D. Awful.

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 11-20, which are based on the Reading Passage 2 below.

Dolphin Pools as Zoos?

The public are always numerous and enthusiastic. Children can't wait to get near the dolphins, to touch, stroke and feed them.

It's the same each day all over the world. And the dolphins love it; they stick their heads out of water, rubbing themselves against the side of the pool, making their typical clicking noises.

They are extremely sociable creatures, with an enormous curiosity towards human beings and it is this particular aspect which singles them out from other mammals.

During these meetings at "close-quarters" a deep friendship develops between man and animal. People crowd to watch as the dolphins perform their wonderful acrobatic water games, but they also want to know more about them. For example that they are mammals and not fish, that they breathe air, that they pick out their prey and other objects using their hearing, that they live in groups with very strict rules. Sometimes dolphin pools are used as hospitals for sick cetaceans. It is not a rare thing to find specimen washed up a beach because of environmental pollution and saved with the help of dolphins from those pools. Ecological campaigns aimed at protecting the species can always count on the help of those people who have learnt to love these animals by having actually seen them.

Sadly though, admiration has recently been mixed with pity. Conservationists have complained about the negative aspects of the aquariums, comparing them to zoos. Life in cement pools confines the dolphins to a very limited space, isolates them from their shoal and prevents them from having social relationships and protection of their group.

Also the hygienic conditions in many pools are not up to standard. Dolphins have very delicate skin: too much chlorine or salt in the water can cause sores and ulcerations on their bodies. Another problem is that animals are made to perform all sorts of unnatural and ridiculous exercises which make them a toy for man to play with. Of course, not all dolphin pools are prisons. In the U.S.A., for example, natural lagoons which have been fenced off from the sea, are now being used. Though the dolphins have limited freedom in them, they do have wide areas to swim in with real sea water and sea life, while people still look at them and study them. Let's hope all dolphin pools will follow this example!

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

TRUE If statement agrees with the information

FALSE If the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN If there is no information provided on this

11. People don't find dolphins interesting.
12. Children like to touch, stroke and feed dolphins.
13. Dolphins are not very fond of people.
14. Dolphins use clicking noises in echolocation.
15. People come to see dolphins because they want to watch them perform and to learn more about them.
16. Dolphins use their hearing to find their food.
17. Dolphins prefer to live alone rather than in groups.
18. Aquariums are compared to zoos.
19. Dolphins in aquariums do not have enough space and have no contact with the rest of the group.
20. Dolphins can have problems with their skin if there is too much salt or chlorine in the water.

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 15 minutes on Questions 21-25, which are based on Reading Passage below.

A The Lumière Brothers opened their Cinematographe, at 14 Boulevard des Capucines in Paris, to 100 paying customers over 100 years ago, on December 8, 1985. Before the eyes of the stunned, thrilled audience, photographs came to life and moved across a flat screen.

B So ordinary and routine has this become to us that it takes a determined leap of imagination to grasp the impact of those first moving images. But it is worth trying, for to understand the initial shock of those images is to understand the extraordinary power and magic of cinema, the unique, hypnotic quality that has made film the most dynamic, effective art form of the 20^th century.

C One of the Lumière Borthers’ earliest films was a 30-second piece which showed a section of a railway platform flooded with sunshine. A train appears and heads straight for the camera. And that is all that happens. Yet the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, one of the greatest of all film artists, described the film as a ‘work of genius’. ‘As the train approached,’ wrote Tarkovsky, ’panic started in the theatre: people jumped and ran away. That was the moment when cinema was born. The frightened audience could not accept that they were watching a mere picture. Pictures were still, only reality moved; this must, therefore, be reality. In their confusion, they feared that a real train was about to crush them.’

D Early cinema audiences often experienced the same confusion. In time, the idea of film became familiar, the magic was accepted- but it never stopped being magic. Film has never lost its unique power to embrace its audience and transport them to a different world. For Tarkovsky, the key to that magic dynamic image of the real flow of events. A still picture could only imply the existence of time, while time in a novel passed at the whim of the reader. But in cinema, the real, objective flow of time was captured.

E One effect of this realism was to educate the world about itself. For cinema makes the world smaller. Long before people travelled to America or anywhere else, they knew what other places looked like; they knew how other people worked and lived. Overwhelmingly, the lives recorded-at least in film fiction- have been American. From the earliest days of the industry, Hollywood has dominated the world film market. American imagery-the cars, the cities, the cowboys- became the primary imagery of film. Film carried American life and values around the globe.

F And, thanks to film, future generations will know the 20-th century more intimately than any other period. We can only imagine what life was like in the 14^th century or in classical Rome. But the life of the modern world has been recorded on film in massive encyclopaedic detail. We shall be known better than any preceding generations.

G And it has all happened so quickly. Almost unbelievably, it is a mere 100 years since that train arrived and the audience screamed of what they saw, and, perhaps, suddenly aware that the world could never be the same again-that, maybe, it could be better, brighter, more astonishing, more real than reality.

Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs labelled A-G.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

21. Primary imagery of the film.

22. The speed with which the cinema has changed.

23. When the first cinema opened.

24. Lumière Borthers’ first film.

25. Statement that the first audiences were confused about the film.

Answers to intensifying adverbs exercise (P.II)

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delay; here are the answers to the second part of the exercise on intensifying adverbs.

noticeably: affected

bitterly: disappointed, complain

significantly: reduced, better

severely: damaged, disabled

considerably: improved

highly: skilled, educated, un-/likely, successful

extremely: difficult, efficient

surprisingly: easy 

IELTS Writing (Task 1 & 2) and Speaking Band Descriptors

Speaking Band Descriptors
Writing (Task 1) Band Descriptors
Writing (Task 2) Band Descriptors

CLEFT SENTENCES ANSWER KEY

Dear students,

Please find the answer key to exercise number 2 on cleft sentences below.

1.We just need 5 minutes to fix it. ALL
ALL WE NEED IS 5 MINUTES (TO FIX IT).

2.I’m not questioning his dedication. ISN’T IT ISN’T HIS DEDICATION THAT I’M QUESTIONING. 
3.These men a re totally ruthless. WHAT 
WHAT THESE MEN ARE IS TOTALLY RUTHLESS. 
4.We inherited everything except the house. ONLY THING 
THE ONLY THING WE DIDN’T INHERIT WAS THE HOUSE.
5.You know the sales assistant told me exactly the same thing. THAT’S 
THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT THE SALES ASSISTANT TOLD ME.
6. We’re taking the au-pair with us. DOING
WHAT WE ARE DOING IS TAKING THE AU-PAIR WITH US. 

Intensifying Adverbs exercise

Intensifying adverbs exercise
Dear students,

Here's the link to intensifying adverbs exercise I promised I would post. Although this exercise is optional, I would like you to complete it by Monday, 14th January 2013. I will post the answers later next week.

Good luck with your essays!

Katie

Compound nouns exercise ;-)

Overwork- one of the compound nouns we've learnt this week!

'Overwork is surely one reason why, for example, Americans have nearly twice as much chance as Europeans of suffering from chronic illnesses. […] According to the Gallup-Healthways survey, those countries that have the best work-life balance and shortest work hours, including Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, tend to have the happiest people.'

Adapted from Business Spotlight, 2/2012 www.business-spotlight.de

What are some of the implications of overwork? Why do you think some people work too much? Is it out of necessity or maybe choice?

I'm looking forward to your comments.

Katie  

9 week YEPMA IELTS A course outline

9 week YEPMA IELTS A course outline

Dear students,

Please find the link to your 9 week IELTS course outline which I have also pasted here just in case you can't access it through google docs.

Please note that this a provisional course outline, therefore topics and additional material sources might change as the course progresses.

EFUP term module outline

Class name: YEPMA IELTS A
Teacher name: Katie Malik
Term start date: 7th Jan 2012

Week

Subject/Topic

Resources/Materials

Assessed component dates and deadlines

1 (7th Jan-11th Jan)

Listening (Multiple-choice; Note Completion)
Speaking (Part One, Part Three)
Reading (Reading quickly, Headings)
Writing (Planning an essay)
Units One and Two, Objective IELTS
Academic Vocabulary In Use

2 (14th Jan- 18th Jan)

Listening (Multiple Choice, Matching)
Speaking (Part 2)
Reading (Global Multiple-choice, Yes/No/Not Given, Locating Information)
Writing (Commenting on Graphs)
Hot Discussion Topic of the Week: 'In which ways can technology be experienced as a help or as a hindrance?'

Unit Three, Objective IELTS
Academic Vocabulary In Use
Full Mock Exam,  excluding Speaking part

3 ( 21st Jan- 25th Jan)

Listening (Matching, Sentence Completion, Note Completion)
Speaking (Part 2, Part 3)
Reading (Sentence Completion, Locating Information)
Writing (Reporting Ideas)
Hot Discussion Topic of the Week: 'Are there any differences between the types of people who were seen as celebrities in the past and those who are celebrities nowadays?'

Exam feedback
Units Four and Five, Objective IELTS
Academic Vocabulary In Use
Mock Exam-Speaking part

4 (28th Jan- 1st Feb)

Listening (Matching, Labelling a Diagram, Classification)
Speaking (Part 2, Part 3)
Reading (Global Multiple-choice, Multiple-choice with multiple answers, Summary Completion, Multiple-choice)
Writing (Describing a Process)
Hot Discussion Topic of the Week: 'Location, location, location: what affects people's decisions about where they decide to live these days?'

Units Six and Seven, Objective IELTS
Academic Vocabulary In Use

5 (4th Feb- 8th Feb)

Listening (Flow-chart completion)
Reading (Global Multiple Choice, Deducing meaning of words from the context, Matching)
Writing (Developing an Argument)
Hot Discussion Topic of the Week: 'Which international laws should be applied all over the world?'
Unit Eight, Objective IELTS
Academic Vocabulary In Use
Full Mock Exam,  excluding Speaking part

6 (11th Feb- 15th Feb)

Listening (Labelling Maps, Sentence Completion, Short-Answer Questions, Matching, Summary completion)
Speaking (Part 2, Part 3)
Reading (Short-Answer Questions, Locating Information, Yes/No/Not Given, Matching)
Writing (Comparison and Contrast)
Hot Discussion Topic of the Week: 'How do countries differ in the ways they view being polite?'

Exam feedback and progress review
Units Nine and Ten, Objective IELTS
Academic Vocabulary In Use

7 (18th Feb-22 Feb)

Listening (Sentence Completion, Matching, Multiple-choice, Labelling maps, short-answer questions)
Speaking (Part 2, Part 3)
Reading (Summary Completion, Classification, Sentence Completion, short-answer questions)
Writing (Appropriate Style and Tone)
Hot Discussion Topic of the Week: 'What do you think we can learn by studying events of the past?'

Units Eleven and Twelve, Objective IELTS
Academic Vocabulary In Use

8 (25th Feb- 1st Mar)

Listening (Sentence completion)
Reading (Summary completion)
Writing (Errors clinic)

Unit Thirteen, Objective IELTS

Academic Vocabulary in Use

Full Mock Exam, including Speaking part 

9 (4th Mar- 8th Mar)

Exam feedback and progress review
Hot Discussion Topic of the Week: 'Would you say that schools for young children have become more or less competitive since you were that age? Why?'
Units Fourteen and Fifteen, Objective IELTS

Academic Vocabulary in USE