English in Daily Life Exam Orientation By Feng

English in Daily Life Exam Orientation By Feng Xue November, 2004 Beiwai. Online

What Do I Expect? – No way Some insider information about the real exam papers? Sorry, no way. But honestly, 30% is from the textbook.

I’ve done plenty of practice • I’ve done plenty the around of practise around given topics I’ve finished thethe givenand expressions by expressions tasks in the myself. by myself. textbook. I just read through the textbook, but left some tasks I was too busy to undone, because finish even half of they are difficult. the textbook or do the practise. Sample Paper Ready? • 平台 – 学习园地 - 课程考核 – 终结考试样题 Where Am I? （附答案及评分标准）

Contents • Form (考试形式) • Structure (试题结构) • Focus (考试重点) • Difficulty level (难度水平) • Special exam items and their exam techniques (重点题型以及答题要领) • Marking criteria (评分标准, 得分点) • Resources for exam preparation (复习资源)

Exam Structure & Question Types

Form & Structure (考试形式/结构) – Written Session 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 • extended conversation • monologue (Played twice) Three reading tasks: • practical reading (150＊５) • reading comprehension (450*1 + 650*1) Description or narration • appr. 150 words • structured • theme-based

Form & Structure (考试形式/结构) – Written Session 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)

Form & Structure (考试形式/结构) – Written Session 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

Form & Structure (考试形式/结构) – Written Session 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 • extended conversation • monologue (Played twice) Three reading tasks: • practical reading (150＊５) • reading comprehension (450*1 + 650*1) Description or narration • appr. 150 words • theme-based • structured

Form & Structure – Question Types • Multiple choice • Blank-filling (dictation, summary, diagram, table completion) • True/False (Not Given) • Short-answer • Matching • Essay writing (structured)

Form & Structure (考试形式/结构) – Oral Session 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 Waiting A asks initiates and B responds. B asks initiates and A responds. Taking Test

Form & Structure (考试形式/结构) – Oral Session 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.

Form & Structure – Good Conversations • 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.

Exam Focus & Difficulty Level

Focus (考试重点) • Comprehensive language proficiency – Themes • The family • The home • Daily Routines • Getting around • Local community • Life and relationship • Health • People – Functions • Following daily conversations • Understanding texts • Asking questions • Composing introductions • Giving descriptions • Writing descriptions • Expressing opinions • Producing letters – Expressions (vocabulary, grammar) – Cultural knowledge

Difficulty Level (难度水平) • Intermediate – upper intermediate (Listening and writing are about the level of the textbook. )

Special Items and Their Techniques (特殊题型及其答题要领)

Special Items and Their Techniques – 1 Blank-filling: • • spelling word form word number capitalization (大小写) Writing: • instructions • clear handwriting • wise timing (30’=2’ +3’ +20’ +3’) Short-answer Questions

Special Items and Their Techniques – 2 Short answer questions: 49. What are the harms high heels can do to people? “As foot specialists will tell you, shoes can be dangerous to your feet. The thinner and higher the heel, the greater the risk of foot and back problems. Standing in high heels inevitably hurts after an hour on foot. This results in aches and pains. ” -- Foot and back problems / foot aches and pains

Special Items and Their Techniques – 3 Short answer questions: 50. Name at least two reasons why women wear high heels? So why do we do it? The traditional criticism is that women are slaves to male ideas. Almost everyone is trying on the new higher heels. Feet look smaller in high heels. … And it is not just feet. High heels make a woman’s leg look longer, and everyone looks better with longer legs. It is what they do to your head, not your feet. That is what makes women walk differently and look differently in high heels. - • • Any two of the following: slaves to male ideas / influence of men’s ideas; intention to please men; social trend / fashion; looking better – smaller feet, longer legs; make women walk differently and look differently

Summary of Short Answer Questions (答题要领) • Understanding • Rule is not rigid

Some Techniques for Oral Test (口试注意事项) • 10 minutes preparation in the waiting room • No reading from the test paper • Appropriate body language (gesture, eye contact, facial expressions) • No silence – 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.

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. Conversation flows, 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.

Tips for Exam Preparation

Pre-exam Preparation - General • To reinforce what you have already learned • To identify your weaknesses and practice to improve • To get familiar with the exam items and process • To learn lessons if you find it too late to prepare

Pre-exam Preparation - Specific • Keep a minimum exposure to English for 2 hours a day. • Review each unit by checking against the performance objective list. • Review your notes. (Or regret that you don’t have one. ) • Read the exam guideline. • Do a trial exam, closely following the time and requirements. • Analyse your performance afterwards.

Resources for exam preparation (复习资源及使用) • a. Focal points (unit-based) • b. Self-assessment tests (unit-based) • c. Tutorial materials (unit-based) • d. FAQs (unit-based) • e. Topics for oral practice 平台-学习园地-复习与自测 平台-学习园地-课程辅导资料 平台-社区-论坛-FAQ与教材勘误 平台-社区-论坛-高级日常英语

Important Notice (重要提示) • Pencil & eraser • Student card • ID card • Check the paper before listening starts • Name and student number on both papers • Leave all the papers after the test

The End Wish you success!