8Th Form Listening Text Answer Document:

Listening Text #1:

from “What is the What” by Dave Eggars, 2006

Multiple Choice:

1. B

2. B

3. A

4. D

5. B

Listening Text #2:

A Story to Remember

True/False:

1. True

2. True

3. True

4. False

5. True

6. True

7. False

8. False

9. False

10. True

Multiple Choice:

1. B

2. C

3. A

4. C

5. A

6. D

7. B

8. C

9. D

10. B

8Th Form Speaking Prompts:

~Choose one of the following prompts to speak about.

1. You are writing a travel brochure about your hometown.

- Describe your hometown (location, people, weather, travel in and around your town,

- What is your town know for? Is there anything special about it?

- What are the advantages of living and visiting in your home town?

- Compare your hometown to another town in your area.

2. What are some experiences you wish to have by the time you are 50 years old?

- What kind adventures do you want to go on?

- Is there anything dangerous you would like to do?

- What would you want to learn by experience?

8Th Form Writing Prompts:

~Choose one of the following prompts and write a composition.

1. There is a famous quotation that says “The world is a book and people who do not travel are reading only the first page.” Is traveling important?

   • What can you learn from visiting other countries?

   • What country could you learn the most from?

   • What culture would you like to learn more about?

2. Tell what you would change about your life if you could and why.

• Why would you change this aspect of your life?

• Do you think other people would be disappointed if you changed this?

• Would there be disadvantages to making this change?

For Olympiad Test Preparation

Additional rEsources Speaking Tasks—School of Berezanka

Advanced Level Prompts:

1. If you could write one law that would be enacted immediately, what would it be?

- Explain the primary aim of your law and why that is important.

- How is your law better, or an improvement upon, existing laws?

- Predict the outcome or effect on society if this law were to be enacted.

2. Even if you don’t realize it, you use body language, in addition to words when communicating with people.

- How does body language aid communication and why is that important?

- What actions may be perceived as threatening? Friendly? Which are to be generally avoided?

- How can you misinterpret someone’s body language? Analyze the potential effects of

misunderstanding someone’s body language using examples.

3. Mark Twain said: “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” 

- Explain the meaning of this quote.

- In your opinion, why do people procrastinate?

- Debate the acceptability of procrastination: When is it absolutely unacceptable to procrastinate?

Is it ever okay to put something off until later?

4. You have applied for a job and have qualified for an interview. Answer the following questions as if you

were in a job interview for that position. What position have you applied for, and at which organization?

• What can you do for us that someone else can’t? (Describe and promote your unique set of skills and strengths.)

• What do you find most attractive about this position? Least attractive? (Analyze the positive and negative aspects of this particular position.)

• Your resume suggests that you may be over-qualified for this position. What is your opinion? (Consider areas or skills you would like to improve.)

5. Many people around the world think that volunteer work is a valuable thing, but some people think it is

a waste of time.

- Critique the concept of ‘volunteer work’ and give your opinion.

- What are the advantages and disadvantages of volunteer work for a community?

- Hypothesize why you think most people volunteer.

6. Bullying has always been a problem in schools, but now with this problem is following children home through acts of cyber-bullying, or harassment that takes place on the Internet. It deeply affects teens and can lead to serious consequences, like the suicide of Megan Meier in Missouri in 2006, or that or Erin Gallagher in Ireland in 2012.

• In your opinion, who is responsible for addressing the issue of cyber-bullying, parents or schools? If so, in what ways can they do this?

• How can a community combat this phenomenon?

• Explain some ways that students can more safely communicate through the internet.

7. Every generation of people develop different characteristics due to the influence of different events, technologies, and people in their lifetimes.

• Summarize events that you believe define your generation and why.

• Compare your generation to older generations; what are some potential misunderstandings?

• Choose and defend a position (agree or disagree) of the following statement using examples: “Some recent studies have found that the newest generation is more self-centered than earlier ones.”

8. Inner beauty is just as important as outer beauty, but this truth is often lost because our media mainly focuses on praising physical perfection. As a result, many young men and women today are developing mental and physical disorders from struggling to achieve the perfect body.

• Compare the potential impact of this phenomenon on men and women, and explain the differences.

• Do think attractive people benefit more in our society? Why or why not?

• Relate this phenomenon to your own personal experience: do you feel a similar pressure to achieve physical perfection? If so, what, in your opinion, are the sources of this pressure?

9. In the film Midnight in Paris, the main character is nostalgic for the past because he believes that life in the 1920s was better than the present.

• Compare life in the past to life in the present. Which, in your opinion, is better and why?

• Identify reasons why some people may think the past is better than the present, and some things we could change to make our present more like the past, or better.

• If you could live in another time period, explain which era would you choose and why?

10. The British poet John Donne once said that “No man is an island.”

• Explain the meaning of this quote.

• Analyze the importance of human relationships. Is it possible to live without them? Why, in your opinion, do some people require more relationships than others?

• Relate this to your personal experience; describe a time when you impacted, or were impacted, by another person and it changed your life.

11. Oscar Wilde once said that “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”

• Explain this quote, identifying the types of education to which Wilde may have been referring.

• Debate which you feel is more important: formal, classroom education, or experiential learning. Use an example to illustrate your choice.

• Support your position on the following statement using examples: “Formal education in the classroom is not necessary.”

12. Gandhi said “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth makes the whole world blind and toothless.” People often use this reasoning to oppose something like the execution of a murderer, for example, while others believe that the crime you have committed should be committed against you.

• Explain what Gandhi’s quote means with respect to revenge and punishment.

• Is ‘an eye for an eye’ a good basis for determining an appropriate punishment?

• Which is better, in terms of results and in terms of humanism, nonviolent protest or protest ‘by any means necessary’?

13. The French playwright, Molière, wrote, “The greater the obstacle the more glory in overcoming it.”

• Explain this quote and what it is saying about success and struggle.

• In your opinion, can you only achieve success through struggle? Can you achieve success without struggling? Is there a difference?

• Construct an example of success achieved through struggle.

14. Some people say “Timing is everything” meaning that events can only occur when one is ready for them. Others say “Time is money.” Time is an important concept but is treated differently within different cultures.

-In your opinion, how valuable is ‘time’? In what ways may ‘time’ be likened to ‘money’?

-Do you believe there is enough time in the day to accomplish everything?

-Compare the importance of punctuality within different cultures; how important is being on-time in your culture? Why do you think

so?

15. Body art, in the form of tattoos and piercings, has become very popular among many different types of people in the last several decades.

• Evaluate your own culture: Is it acceptable in your culture to get a tattoo?

• Discuss the types of body decoration that are common in your culture and whether they vary by generation.

• Relate this to your personal experience. Would you get one if you had the chance? If so, what would you get and why?

16. At the present moment the world runs on fossil fuels such as coal and oil, natural substances found in the earth in a limited supply. As time goes on, these substances are decreasing more and more and will eventually lead to a global energy crisis if an alternative means of fuel is not found or if consumption of them is not curbed.

• Do you think stronger efforts should be made to develop alternative biofuels?

• What are some ways that people could conserve the energy they use today?

• How could you spread awareness of the growing energy crisis in your community?

17. Certain subjects are generally avoided by teachers and students in the school setting.

• Should students and teachers be able to speak freely on all topics of conversation?

• Should there be certain boundaries between teachers and their students?

• What are some positive and negative aspects of the formal student/teacher relationship? Do you believe that, if a teacher is less formal, students will lose respect?

18. “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” – Oscar Wilde

- Explain this quote. Do you believe that reading and literature play that important of a role in

shaping one’s character?

- Relate this quote to your personal experience; use examples.

19. It is said that clothes make the man.

• Infer to what extent you think attire affects first impressions.

• What do you consider appropriate attire in different environments such as in school, at work, in church, at home?

• Do you think the actual appearance or the brand name of attire is more important and why? What value do you, or members of your culture, place on dressing smartly?

20. Some people believe that history is cyclical and that human behavior repeats indefinitely. Do you believe that human history is cyclical or follows certain patterns which repeat?

• If you do not, how do you explain patterns throughout history?

• If you do, how do you explain new, innovative or ground-breaking advances which have occurred throughout history?

• Why is it important to study history with this mind?