2126

All the questions are multiple-choice.

Scoring

If you take the computer-based test you will be able to see your scores for listening and reading immediately. Your exact scores for the other sections will not be available immediately as your writing will need to be marked.

For the computer-based test you will receive four scaled scores: Listening (0-30), Structure/Writing (0-30), Reading (0-30), and a total score (0-300). The essay will receive a rating between 1 and 6.

If you take the paper-based test you will receive a score with a maximum of 677.

http://www.toefl.org

If you had a chance to take TOEFL, what format would you choose? Why?

21. Work in 4 groups. Read the following advice for improving your reading/listening/speaking/writing skills and tell the rest of the group what you should do.

Group 1. Reading skills

1. Read as much and as often as possible in English.

-Read texts on a variety of topics. (Read both academic and non-academic materials. Read about subjects that interest you and that DON’T interest you.)

-Write basic questions to test your understanding of a text. (Write questions and answers about the first paragraph. Then guess what might be discussed in the next paragraph.)

-Use your knowledge of grammar to try to comprehend difficult sections of a passage. (Think carefully about the relationship between independent and dependent clauses. Look at pronouns and find the nouns that they refer to. Look at relative pronouns (who, that, which, whom, whose) used in adjective clauses (for example, The student whose classmates are taking the TOEFL test....) and find the nouns they refer to.)

2. Continually expand your vocabulary knowledge.

-It is important to increase your vocabulary on many subjects because you will have to read about various topics at the university. (Review glossaries/lists of terms used in academic texts.)

-Develop a system for studying new words. (Write each word on a card and mix up the cards each time you study them. Write the context (the sentence the word was used in) to help you learn correct word usage. Group the words according to topic or meaning and study the words as a list of related words. Study vocabulary by making a list of opposites (words with different meanings) and synonyms (words with similar meanings).

-Expand your vocabulary by analyzing the parts of a word. This will help you understand some unknown words that you see.

-Use the context to guess the meaning of unknown words.

-Use resources to help you study vocabulary. (Use an English-English dictionary to learn correct meaning and word usage.)

-Practice correct usage by making sentences with new words.

3. Study the organization of academic texts and overall structure of a reading passage.

-Read an entire passage from beginning to end. (Look for the main ideas of the article. Look for the supporting details. Pay attention to the relationship between the details and main ideas.)

-Learn to recognize the different styles of organization that you find in articles in English in order to understand the way an article is structured. (Pay attention to the connecting words/transitions used for specific relationships.)

-Outline a text to test your understanding of the structure of a reading passage. (Begin by grouping paragraphs that address the same concept. Pay attention to how the key ideas in one paragraph relate to the main points of the next paragraph. Write one sentence summarizing the paragraphs that discuss the same idea. Look at connections between sentences. Look at how the end of one sentence relates to the beginning of the next sentence. Think about the connection between the ideas of the two sentences. Combine the sentences using appropriate transitions words to show the relationship between ideas.)

-Write a summary of the entire passage.

Group 2. Listening skills

1. Practice listening to something in English every day and gradually increase the amount of time that you listen.

-Listen to different kinds of materials. (Listen actively. Try to answer the “wh” questions. Listen passively to get the general idea of what’s being said.)

-Keep a listening log (a list of everything you listen to each day/week). (Write a one-sentence summary to remember the main idea of what you heard. Write down new expressions, idioms, and vocabulary that you hear.)

-Use dictations and other exercises to help your listening ability. (Ask an English speaker to dictate an article to you. Good sources of material are newspapers, magazines, and textbooks. First, write down exactly what you hear. Then only take notes on the important points that you hear. Do information gap exercises, using unfamiliar content and complex structures.)

2. Use the resources in your community to practice listening to English.

-Visit places in your community where you can practice listening to English.

24. Look through the tips below and add some ideas to your list.

A month before the examination

Your final review should start a month before the examination. Make a planned programme for your revision work.

Start by thinking about what you can do well and what you do badly. You can gain more marks by improving on your weaknesses than by polishing things which you can already do well.

Make sure you understand the exact requirements of the examination and your own strengths and weaknesses. Make a focused revision programme which concentrates on the things which can gain the most marks.

Don't overwork! Always build some relaxation (not too much!) into your revision programme.

If you like working with friends, don't let your revision programme be a lonely time. Work in co-operation with other students. You can learn as much through helping as by being helped!

Use multi-sensory revision

We learn and remember information as pictures, sounds and movements. Think about linking the things you have learnt to pictures, diagrams, music, sounds, movements or sensations. You will find they are easier to remember. Think of past events in black and white, present events in real colour and future events in strange futuristic colours.

Memorising vocabulary

You can memorise vocabulary by making pictures in your mind or on paper and labelling the different things in the picture. Test yourself regularly.

Vocabulary cards, with the word on one side and an example sentence, translation or picture on the reverse, are very useful for revising vocabulary when travelling (NOT if you are driving!). Practise making word families like happiness, happy, happily.

Understanding Grammar

Check through your grammar reference notes and tick off the things you really understand. Concentrate on the areas where your understanding is not so clear. Try to make examples from your own knowledge or experience to help you remember the forms.

Use past papers

Practice exams are very useful for your revision particularly if you time yourself strictly. Don't let practice exams make you depressed. They can be really useful in showing what you need to practise and learn.

Use your teacher

Your teacher knows you very well. Ask your teacher for advice on your revision programme. Build some 'rewards' into your revision programme!

Make a tough revision programme for yourself and work hard but build in some rewards for yourself after you have completed each stage of revision satisfactorily.

A week before the examination

Look back at your revision programme. Is it complete? Aren't there some things you want to look at again? Use this week for some focused revision.

Review your revision notes every day. Try reviewing your notes without looking at them. Which parts are difficult to remember? Concentrate on learning those parts.

Remember that the examination asks you to do things in English. It is not a test of how well you remember your notes. Use your time to do some relaxing things in English.

Look back at the written work you did a year ago. Do you see how much you have improved? Think positively about yourself and your achievements.

Think about what you are going to wear for the examination. You should be comfortable, but try to choose something special for this special day. This means that when you put on those clothes, you will already be preparing yourself for the examination.

Get as much sleep as you can. Don't waste time worrying about the examination. You will not learn anything by worrying. Find some time to take exercise. You can try to remember phrasal verbs when you are jogging or plan a composition whilst you take a walk.

Travel to the place where you will take the examination. Check that you know the way and the time. Use the journey time to plan your examination strategy.

Remember to send 'good luck' messages to all your friends who are taking the same examination.

The night before the examination don't eat a heavy meal. Eat something light but nutritious. Avoid alcohol. Take some exercise and go to bed early.

On the day of the examination

Dress in your 'examination clothes' and prepare yourself for this special day. Open and read the 'good luck' messages from your friends. Have a good breakfast but don't drink too much. You shouldn't feel hungry or uncomfortable in any way during the examination.

Check through the 'time plan' you have made for the examination. Know how much time you will give to each question. Check you have given yourself time for checking and correcting.

Check that you have all the pens and papers you need for the examination. For many examinations you may need some identification papers.

As you travel to the place of the examination, remind yourself of your examination strategy.

During the examination

Focus your mind on what you have to do. Don't be distracted by outside things or by other students. Keep an eye on the clock but try not to hurry. Always give yourself time to check your work.

Remember you will get no marks for any questions you do not attempt so make sure that you complete as much of the examination as possible.

After the examination

Don't worry about the mistakes you made and the things you got wrong. You will have a long wait for the results so go out and enjoy your freedom!

The results are not as good as you expected? Well, you can always take the examination again. You are now a better, more organised person and a better learner. It will be much easier next time.

The results are good? Congratulations!

http://www.pearsonlongman.com/exams/extra/study-tips/study-tips2.html

25. Read the text in Ex. 24 again and find the words that mean:

-the process of going over a subject again in study or recitation in order to fix it in the memory or summarize the facts;

-a plan or schedule of activities, procedures, etc., to be followed;

-relief from bodily or mental work, effort, etc.;

-to bring all efforts, faculties, activities, etc., to bear on one thing or activity;

-examine so as to determine accuracy, quality, or condition;

-to move or act with speed or haste.

26. Is it true or false?

1.Make sure you understand the exact requirements of the examination and your own weaknesses and strengths.

2.Work as much as you can.

3.Vocabulary cards are useless for revising vocabulary.

4.Ask your groupmate for advice on your revision programme.

5.Review your revision notes five times a day.

6.You should wear special clothes for the day of examination.

7.Eat more meat the night before the examination.

8.During the examination try to do everything very quickly.

9.Don't worry about the mistakes you made.

27.Design a poster for your friend to help him/her to get good results at the examination. In group, choose the best poster.

28.Read the text about our memory to find out:

1.What are the three ‘Rs’?

2.What types of memory do you know?

3.Can you match the pictures (pic. 10 – 13) with memory types?

Pic. 13

4.What is the difference between the three types of memory?

5.How does your working memory receive information?

6.Why do people forget?

7.What learning strategies are there?

Memory techniques

'All learning depends on memory – without it everything would be new and unknown every day.'

'You have more brain cells in your head than the number of trees in the Amazon rainforest. You have more connections between brain cells than the number of leaves on all the trees in the Amazon rainforest.'

What is memory?

Memory is our ability to receive, retain and retrieve ideas and information. Remember the three 'Rs' of memory: receive, retain, retrieve.

A convenient way to think about memory is in three distinct parts: short term memory; medium term memory; long term memory.

We think of these three types of memory as operating in different ways.

Short term memory ('Electrical' memory)

Short term memory is like the RAM on your computer. It is limited in capacity, it's the holding centre for about seven pieces of information. If we try to add an item to short term memory, the new item pushes out one of the older ones.

Your short term memory can retain (for short periods) information which you only partially 'understand' (like telephone numbers) but you require 'understanding' to receive and retain information for longer.

When the power is switched off, all short term memory disappears.

Medium term memory ('Chemical' memory)

Medium term memory can store more data (information and ideas) for longer periods. Data can only be received into medium term memory by regularly activating and using the data. Even if we activate the material regularly over a period of time, a long period of inactivity will cause the memory to disappear. We can all remember how to ride a bicycle, but do we remember the colour of our first bicycle? Medium term memory is like the hard disk on your computer.

Long term memory ('Structural' memory)

Long term memory is so deep that it actually changes the structure of our brain. In computer terms the memory is 'hard-wired'. Even if the power is switched off and the computer is left unused for many years the memory is retained within the structure (circuits) of the computer. In Italian, people talk about the 'incarnation' of memory – where the memory becomes part of our own flesh.

Receiving multi-sensory experience

Your working memory receives information through your senses. If you see it, say it, hear it and do it in a revision session, you will create a four-lane motorway into your medium term memory.

This is why you should try to learn in a multi-sensory way and use them all to make as many different 'mental' connections as you can. So sitting for hours just reading will take you four times as long to memorise the same information! See it, say it, hear it, do it!

Why do we forget?

-Poor understanding

-Poor attention, poor listening

-Distractions

-Tiredness, anxiety, emotions, mood and stress

-Interference new information being confused with existing information

-Poor learning strategy – not having cues or memory triggers to unlock and retrieve the facts

-Disuse or insufficient rehearsal or practice using a review cycle

-Lack of importance – you don't remember what you don't value

-Improper organisation – trying to cram too much information into your brain without sorting it into categories

-Dehydration – the brain needs water to conduct electrical pulses fast

Using learning strategies to remember

1.Rhymes: 'I before E except after C.' This easily remembered spelling rule avoids spelling mistakes in words like 'receive' and 'retrieve'. Get students to invent rhyming raps to memorise grammar rules.

2.Physical prompts: in Libya, I was taught to use my two fists to remember the days in the months. If the first high bone is January (31) it is followed by a dip, February (28/29). March (31) is the next bone followed by a dip, April (30). July (31) is the last bone on one hand and August (31) is the first bone on the other hand.

3.Memory workout: read, cover, write, say, check. (Repeat the workout circuit many times!)

4.Visualisation prompts: to remember a sequence of facts, think of a regular journey such as to school or to the shops. Connect each fact to a point on the journey.

5.Sound prompts: the same as above but connect each fact to a stage in a piece of music you know well.

http://www.pearsonlongman.com/exams/pdfs/Memory_techniques.pdf

29. Read some information about general principles to aid memory and choose the best ones. Why have you chosen them?

Create interest: find a purpose, 'This will be useful for ...' Understand it: it's impossible to learn what you don't understand.

Positive thinking and confidence: often we fail to learn because we are convinced we can't do it. Intend to attend to it!: be determined to learn – avoid distractions.

Organise information into sensible chunks and rehearse. Do not try to learn too much at one time – remember your short term memory can only hold seven items. Plan what you are going to learn.

Create associations: it's much easier to learn something new if you link it to something you already know.

Look for meaning and compare with what you already know: comparative grammar is not a waste of time – most languages have countable and uncountable nouns!

Develop a system of memory triggers for each item you wish to remember. A 'souvenir' will trigger your memory of a holiday.

Use a multisensory approach: employ a combination of audio, visual and physical strategies to use your audio, visual and motor memories.

Be relaxed: play non-lyrical music to help your brain's Alpha waves buzz.

Doodle, highlight, cartoon, underline: decorate your notes with colour and pictures to make them more memorable. Involve your emotions: feel happy and reward yourself when your memory works well. Develop an emotional relationship with the information you are learning!

Use concrete materials: make a model or game to represent the information you need to remember.

You remember best the information you receive at the beginning or end of a work session: Try having a short change in the middle of a work session so you have two beginnings and two endings.

30.Give your partner a piece of advice about effective memorizing. Let him make some notes.

31.Have you been to some other countries? Would you like to study abroad? Why? What are the main difficulties for foreign students?

32. Match the words with their definitions.

33. Scan the text in Ex. 34 and fill in the first 2 columns of the table:

Exams

Level of teaching

Resources

34. Read the text once again. Why is it titled “Happy to be in Leeds”?

Happy to be in Leeds

It is already February and I have been in Leeds for more than four months! WOW! Being an exchange student, so far away from home and having to care for myself, is quite a stress sometimes but it is certainly one of the best experiences of my life.

Letizia is an exchange student at Leeds University. She is from Italy and she is studying Communication in Leeds. Her main interests are journalism and politics.

I like how University is organised here in England. I think that seminars are really really useful to have the chance to tell your opinion and moreover to read and know more about the subject you are studying.

In Italy we usually have oral exams at the end of term, no essays. It has been really difficult to write an essay for the first time, and especially in a foreign language: English! But it will be really useful for the future, as I reckon that most of the academic papers are essays... and that English is the international language.

However, despite the high competence of the lecturers, the level of teaching is different in Italy. Maybe this is because we have a really strong basic general knowledge that we learn in high school. Therefore in University we tend to have more specific courses and a higher level of teaching in general.

On the other hand, University of Leeds has better lecture theatre, scientific laboratories and computer clusters. The resources that every student can use inside the university, for research, study, leisure are amazing! Students should be aware of the great infrastructure that they have and that they can actually use.

Finally, the best part of studying at University of Leeds is the Student Union. All the societies, the newspaper, the radio and the sport clubs are a great opportunity to make friends and enjoy life better!

I am really happy to be in Leeds as a student for an entire year. How sad it will be to go back home in June… and leave all the friends that I made and this great city!

PS. Obviously there are also the difficulties of everyday life… but I will leave those bits for the next time! :-) http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/articles/2005/02/17/student_diary_letizia_200502_feature.shtml

35. Read the text about Letizia study abroad once again. There are 10 words hidden in the grid. Can you find and circle them? Then use any 5 of your circled words in 5 sentences you compose.

36. Which adjectives go with each of these nouns? Use the phrases you have composed describing studying in Russia.

37.In pairs discuss advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad. Fill in the third column in Ex. 33.

38.Look at the title and say what the reading passage will be about. Then read the text and draw up its plan.

You’re Not Just Part of a Program,

You’re Part of a Family

Becoming an exchange student gives you more than knowledge about another country and its language and culture. A year abroad teaches you about building friendships, taking responsibility for yourself, respecting differences and tolerating the beliefs of others.

Exchange students develop leadership skills, self-confidence and a greater understanding of the complexities of the world around them. This is why the best universities, as well as corporations and professionals, look favourably on students who have spent a school year abroad. They know that former international exchange students bring a higher level of maturity and a global frame of reference to their university studies and activities.

If you become an exchange student abroad, you will experience life in another culture, and make close friends in your host country. Sit in the small cafés, play sports, shop in the same outdoor markets; these are things tourists miss, and this is where you really discover the way of life in another country, with all its subtleties.

While you live the typical daily life of another culture, you are learning every minute of every day. You might live in a French city meant for walking, with cobblestone streets so narrow you can touch the walls of buildings with outstretched arms on both sides. Or you may live in a Spanish village where the remains of an entire castle lie. Perhaps you’ll find yourself in Sweden living in a walled city dating back to medieval days, or that your homestay town in Germany includes a “living castle,” an actual private residence still being used today. These are the sorts of discoveries you will make as you learn firsthand about what you have only studied in the classroom until now.

You’ll also find that the school systems are among the best in the world, and that the teenagers are much the same as they are at home. They work hard at their studies, play sports, love parties and cinema, and pursue hobbies just like you. A few will become your friends for life.

The best way to truly become involved in the culture of a foreign country is to live among its people as a member of a family. Every exchange student does just that. Host families are carefully screened and consider it a privilege to welcome students like you into their home. Host families feel they benefit from the experience as much as you do! They want to learn about your culture and introduce you to theirs. Many families have children your age, and you may find that a family member speaks English, even if it’s only a little.

While someone in your host family may speak your language, you’ll quickly realize that it’s not of much concern. In fact, you’ll probably find that after a few weeks you’ll be asking them to speak in their native tongue.

This may be hard for you to believe. You might be wondering how you’ll express yourself; how you’ll communicate with store clerks, teachers, classmates and your host family. Even if you’ve studied a foreign language in school, you won’t feel ready to live in that language. But when you’re surrounded by that language from morning till night, you learn the fastest way possible. It’s like a month of classes in a single day!

http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/org82983.jsp

39. Is it true or false?

1.Universities, corporations and professionals, look unfavourably on students who have spent a school year abroad.

2.If you become an exchange student abroad, you will learn, learn and learn.

3.Tourists have much more opportunities than exchange students.

4.Teenagers all over the world are the same.

5.Host families want to learn about your culture and introduce you to theirs.

6.The fastest way to learn a foreign language is to live abroad.

40. Be ready to tell about advantages of being an exchange student. You may use the plan from Ex. 38 for your answer. All the other students have to prepare at least one question concerning this problem. Try to answer them.

b)qualifications;

c)cutting-edge;

d)2010;

e)competitive;

f)graduate schools;

g)Bologna.

In the course of the “1) … process” institutions of 2) … will be replacing their Magister and Diplom courses with programmes leading to bachelor’s and master’s degrees by 3) … . Almost half of all the study programmes at German institutions of higher education have already been restructured. As a result, students’ 4) … can be more easily compared with those from other countries. The universities themselves are also taking up the 5) … challenge. The Federal Government and the individual Länder are making available 1.9 billion euros for the current Initiative for Excellence. This money will be used to support 6) … for young researchers, excellence clusters for 7) … research and the research profiles of up to ten selected elite universities.

46. What do you know about DAAD?

Look at the chart below and say what DAAD programmes are aimed at. DAAD

(The German Academic Exchange Service)

The great number and variety of DAAD programmes can be arranged into five strategic goals:

What programmes are best funded?

Which programme would you choose? Why?

47. Look at the map below (pic.14) and say what countries and cities have regional offices and information centres of DAAD? What cities have you been to?