English at Leisure Testtaking Techniques By Feng Xue

English at Leisure Test-taking Techniques By Feng Xue Beiwai. Online

Contents • Structure and Strategies (各部分应试策略) – Written test – Oral test • Special exam items and their exam techniques (难点题型以及答题要领) • Marking criteria (评分标准, 得分点)

Exam Structure & Strategies

Structure & Strategies (各部分应试策略) – Written Session （笔试听力） Written Test + Oral Test Section 1 Section III Skill Listening Reading Writing Score 40 40 20 Time 30 min + 10 min 60 min 30 min Content Three listening texts: Three reading tasks: Description or • short conversation • practical reading (150＊５) narration • extended conversation • reading comprehension • appr. 150 words (450*1 + 650*1) • structured • monologue • theme-based (Played twice)

Strategies for Listening （听力策略） • Pre-read to predict the main content. • Grab general ideas in the first listen, and more details in the second. • Listen for key words. • Don’t waste time thinking about one or two words you missed. • Be aware of paraphrase (换一种说法). – For example, “ 11 am” can be paraphrased as “late in the morning”. • Write beginning letters instead of whole word when hearing long words. Add letters during pauses. • Be alert to tense, capitalization and parts of speech (时 态、大小写和词性).

Structure & Strategies (各部分应试策略) – Written Session （笔试阅读） Written Test + Oral Test Section 1 Section III Skill Listening Reading Writing Score 40 40 20 Time 30 min + 10 min 60 min 30 min Content Three listening texts: • short conversation Three reading tasks: • extended conversation • practical reading (150＊５) • reading comprehension (450*1 + 650*1) • monologue (Played twice) Description or narration • appr. 150 words • structured • theme-based

Strategies for Listening （阅读策略） • First scan – for main idea; then skim – for answers. • Don’t be put off by new words. They are always there. • Try to guess the meaning of some new words, and ignore the rest. • It is useless to worry about the words you think you missed when the tape is running. • Recognize paraphrase.

Structure & Strategies (各部分应试策略) – Written Session （笔试写作） Written Test + Oral Test Section 1 Section III Skill Listening Reading Writing Score 40 40 20 Time 30 min + 10 min 60 min 30 min Three listening texts: Three reading tasks: • extended conversation • monologue (Played twice) • practical reading (150＊５) • reading comprehension (450*1 + 650*1) Content • short conversation Description or narration • appr. 150 words • theme-based • structured

Strategies for Listening （听力策略） • • • DO’s Plan your time wisely. Plan your structure nicely. Read the instruction and underline key words. Keep your role and your reader in mind when setting off to write. Write according to English conventions. Proofread after writing. • • • DON’Ts Don’t spend too much time or too many words on opening, leaving no space for body and end. Don’t write on your own will. Don’t write to nobody or to the examiner only. Don’t transfer Chinese punctuations in English writing. Don’t let simple errors affect your score.

Structure & Strategies (各部分应试策略) – Oral Session （会话口试） Written Test + Oral Test Pre-test Section 1 Section II Skill (Info. processing) Conversation Score NA 50 50 Time 10 min 5 min Content Look at the topics and think alone A asks initiates and B responds. B asks initiates and A responds.

Profile of a Good Speaker （口试要求） • 95: Demonstrates an extremely high level of oral English fluency rarely achieved by others. Excellent conversational skills, sentence structure, grammar and vocabulary. Able to argue and make points very clearly with only rare errors. Excellent pronunciation.

Strategies for Oral Test (口试注意事项) • No reading from the test paper or your notes • Appropriate body language (gesture, eye contact, facial expressions) • No silent waiting. – If you can’t quite understand your partner, ask your partner to repeat or rephrase. – If your partner gets stuck, say something to keep the conversation going or to invite your partner’s responses. • Don’t overdo your role, leaving no chance to your partner. • No enquiry about your performance.

End of Exam Structure and Strategies

Special Items and Their Techniques (特殊题型及其答题要领) a. Blank-filling b. Short answer questions

Special Items and Their Techniques – 1 Blank-filling All the following details are decisive for a point to be given or reduced: – – spelling word form word number capitalization (大小写)

Special Exam Items and Their Exam Techniques (重点题型以及其答题要领：简答题) Short Answer Questions Please refer to the sample test paper. (请参见模 拟试题) Question 44. Why do parents spoil their children? (Name at least three reasons) You should therefore look out in the text for a group of reasons, which may be given together or scattered across the text.

Special Exam Items and Their Exam Techniques (重点题型以及其答题要领：简答题) Short answer questions: Question 44. Why do parents spoil their children? (Name at least three reason You find the following sentences relevant in the text: “Why do parents give their children too much, or give them things they cannot afford? I believe there are several reasons. … One fairly common reason is that parents spoil their children out of a sense of guilt. … Other parents provide too much because they want their children to have everything they had while growing up, along with those things they pined for but did not get. … Still others are afraid to say no to their children’s endless requests for toys for fear that their children will think they are unloved or will be made fun of if they do not obtain the same toys their friends have. … Spoiling a child also happens when parents are unable to stand up to

Special Exam Items and Their Exam Techniques (重点题型以及其答题要领：简答题) Short answer questions: Question 44. Why do parents spoil their children? (Name at least three reaso You should identify the key words as underlined: “Why do parents give their children too much, or give them things they cannot afford? I believe there are several reasons. … One fairly common reason is that parents spoil their children out of a sense of guilt. … Other parents provide too much because they want their children to have everything they had while growing up, along with those things they pined for but did not get. … Still others are afraid to say no to their children’s endless requests for toys for fear that their children will think they are unloved or will be made fun of if they do not obtain the same toys their friends have. … Spoiling a child also happens when parents are unable to stand up to their children’s unreasonable demands. ”

Special Exam Items and Their Exam Techniques (重点题型以及其答题要领：简答题) Short answer questions: Question 44. Why do parents spoil their children? (Name at least three reaso reas “… out of a sense of guilt. … want their children to have everything they had, along with those things they pined for but did not get. … for fear that their children will think they are unloved or will be made fun of … unable to stand up to their children’s unreasonable demands These key points can be summarized as: (Any three) • Out of a sense of guilt / feeling guilty • Want their children to have everything (they had while growing up and the things they failed to get) • Want their children to feel loved • Want their children to have the same toys their friends have and not to be made fun of • unable to stand up to their children’s unreasonable demands / permissive

Let’s look at another example.

Special Exam Items and Their Exam Techniques (重点题型以及其答题要领) Short answer questions: Question 45. What are the writer’s suggestions for those parents who have not found the reason why they are spoiling their children? You should therefore look out in the text for suggestions for the spoiling parents. “… Then, even if you have not uncovered the reason, you should begin to make firm decisions and practice responding to your children’s requests in a determined manner. ”

Special Exam Items and Their Exam Techniques (重点题型以及其答题要领) Short answer questions: Question 45. What are the writer’s suggestions for those parents who have not found the reason why they are spoiling their children? You should therefore look out in the text for suggestions for the spoiling parents.

Special Exam Items and Their Exam Techniques (重点题型以及其答题要领) Short answer questions: Question 45. What are the writer’s suggestions for those parents who have not found the reason why they are spoiling their children? The following remarks are relevant to the question: “… Then, even if you have not uncovered the reason, you should begin to make firm decisions and practice responding to your children’s requests in a determined manner. ”

Special Exam Items and Their Exam Techniques (重点题型以及其答题要领) Short answer questions: “… should begin to make firm decisions and practice responding to your children’s requests in a determined manner. ” Finally, paraphrase the key points as: -- Begin to be firm / practice responding in a determined manner.

End of Special Item Analysis

Writing and Speaking Criteria 写作及口语评分标准

Speaking Criteria (口语评分标准) • 95: • Demonstrates an extremely high level of Oral English fluency rarely achieved by others. Excellent conversational skills, sentence structure, grammar and vocabulary. Able to argue and make points very clearly with only rare errors. Excellent pronunciation. • 85: • Demonstrates a quite high level of Oral English skills. Fairly good sentence structure, very small grammar and vocabulary problems. Adequate conversation skills, no requirement for partner to repeat questions or ask student for explanation, but a few pronunciation errors cause the listener to concentrate. • … • 20: • Has almost no oral English skills at all and uses Chinese constantly. Little vocabulary. Very poor pronunciation.

End of Marking Criteria

The End Wish you success!