Revise for IGCSE in ESL exam.docx

Revise for IGCSE in ESL exam.docx

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ReviseforIGCSEinESLexam

ReviseforIGCSEinESLexam

GeneralPointsRegardingTIME

∙Theexamlastsfor2hours（=120minsfortheextendedand90minsforthecorelevel）andthereareatotalof84marksfortheextendedand56forthecorelevel.Youshouldaimtomanageyourtimeasfollows:

Extendedlevel

∙Ex.1and2about20mins

∙Ex.3（form-filling）-about10mins

∙Ex.4（note-taking）-about12mins

∙Ex.5（summary）-about15mins

∙Ex.6（informalwriting）-about30mins

∙Ex.7（formalwriting）-about30mins

Corelevel

∙Ex.1and2about15mins

∙Ex.3（form-filling）-about10mins

∙Ex.4（note-taking）-about10mins

∙Ex.5（summary）-about5mins

∙Ex.6（informalwriting）-about20mins

∙Ex.7（formalwriting）-about20mins

NB:

ThesuggestedtimesforExercises5-7includeeditingtime. Donotwritefranticallyuntiltheinvigilatorcallsout,“Theexamisover. Pleasestopwritingnow.” 

Youmustspendafewminutesre-readingyourworkandmakingnecessarychanges–notjustcorrections,butpossiblyalsoaddingimprovementssuchastransitionphrases（“Asaresultofthis”,“Ontheotherhand”,“Finally”etc）ormoreexpressivevocabulary（e.g.sofun thrilling/exhilarating）.

GeneralPointsRegardingREADINGTasks

∙Donotwastetimereadingthetextbeforeyoulookatthequestions. Doglancethroughitquicklysoyouknowwhattypeoftextitis（e.g.travelbrochure,magazinearticle）andwhatthetopicis.  Thengostraighttothequestionsandleteachquestionguideyourmoredetailedreading. 

∙Youwillnotlosemarksforgrammatical,spellingorpunctuationerrors（unless,ofcourse,youranswerisimpossibletounderstand!

）.

∙Formostquestions,ashortanswerisfine.Thereisnorulethatyoushouldwriteinfullsentences.Infact,youwouldbewastingvaluabletimeifyouwrotelotsoflonganswers.

∙Thefirst15-20questionsrequirefast（butaccurate!

）reading:

thinkofthe1markquestionsasneedingaboutoneminuteofreadingonaverage.

∙Practisereadingtextsinnewspapers,magazinesortextbooksandmakingnotesofthemainpoints. Thiscanhelpyouprepareforboththenote-takingandsummarywritingtasks.

GeneralPointsRegardingSUMMARYTasks

∙Readtheinstructionscarefully:

whatareyoubeingaskedtowriteabout?

∙Halfthemarksareawardedforincludingrelevantpoints,halffor"qualityoflanguage".Underlineorboxtherelevantpointsintheoriginaltextbeforeyoutrytowriteyoursummary.

∙Donotwritealongintroduction!

 Youmightneedtowritesomethinglike“Therearethreemainadvantagesofhomeschooling. Firstly…”butbasicallyyoushouldgostraighttothepoint:

doonlywhattheinstructionsaskyoutodo!

∙Organisethepointsinsomeway–e.g.chronologically,orProblem-Solution,orAdvantages-Disadvantages. Whateverseemsrightforthetask!

∙Simpleconnectivessuchas"Firstly/Secondly/Thirdly"or"Inaddition/Also"or"Consequently"canhelptomakeyoursummarymorecoherent.

∙Useyourownwords/phraseswherepossible.Feelfreetochangetheorderofpointsifthatseemslogical.

∙Donotwritetoomuch:

youwillnotreceiveanycreditforpointsmadeafterthewordlimit.（Ontheotherhand,donotgetstressedaboutwritingafewwordstoomany. Youareallowedtogoupto120wordsfortheextendedleveland70forthecorelevel）.

GeneralPointsRegardingLISTENING

∙IfyouwanttodosomeListeningpractice,rememberyouhave2CD-ROMsinyourcopyof“IGCSEEnglishasaSecondLanguage”byPeterLucantoni.

∙Formostofthequestions,allyouneedisabriefanswer（oftenjustoneword）.

∙Donotjustlistenforwords;listentothemeaningofwhatisbeingsaid!

 Trytopredictwhatiscomingnext.

∙Usethepausesforwriting:

ifyouwritetoosoon,youmaymisssomethingyoushouldbelisteningto!

∙Inthenote-takingtasks,thinkaboutthetypeofwordthatisrequired. Forexample,ifaheadingsays“Purpose”,thenitislikelythatyouneedalistofverbs（e.g.Toraiseawareness,Toconservewildlife,Toeducateschoolchildren）. Bycontrast,ifasentencesays“Thisboathasattractedmore_________thananyotherboatintherace”,thenyoushouldexpectanountofillthegap–e.g.publicity,funding,attention,visitors,trouble,photographers?

∙Ifyouwrite2answersandthefirstoneiswrong,nopointswillbeawarded.

∙Spellingusuallydoesnotmatter. However,ifanincorrectspellingcouldcauseconfusionaboutyourmeaning,thenitwillbemarkedincorrect. Forexample,"bored"isgood;"bord"isincorrectbutacceptable;but"board"isunacceptable.

GeneralPointsRegardingWRITINGTasks

Therearesomeusefulthingsyoucando:

∙Useathesaurus（）tobuildupavarietyofvocabulary–e.g.waysofexpressingcommonconcepts:

Thetripwasgood.

enjoyable,interesting,educational,informative,fascinating,eye-opening,inspirational,life-changing

Ifeltscared.

anxious,apprehensive,nervous,fearful,terrified

Isawamanrunningdownthestreet.

sprinting,runningatfullpelt

Isawawomansteppingoffthepavementintotheroad.

spotted,noticed,observed

Thecouncilshouldmakeaskatepark.

construct,create,

OpponentssaythatfoxhuntingisanimportantpartofEnglishculture.

argue,claim,insist,maintain

Sheisareallyniceperson.

warm,generous,considerate,helpful,easygoing,supportive

∙Re-readmodelessayssuchasthosebelowandthinkabouthowtheyareorganised. 

∙ReadyournotesonvariousOPINIONor"for/against"topicsor（seeacoupleofexamplesbelow）;usethesetoscribbleessayplans.

∙Re-readgoodexamplesofinformal/formalletters

∙Noticeandpractisewritingcommonphrasesfoundinformalletters:

∙Re-readyournotesonhowtobegin/endinformalletters;makenotesforalettertoafriendaboutarecentexperience（e.g.takingpartinaperformance,winningacompetition,meetingyourhero,meetinganoldclassmate,visitingaforeigncountry,learninganewskill）;workoutwhateachparagraphisgoingtobeabout;makeanoteoflikelyconnectives（thefollowingday,bytheendofourconversation,asaresult,becauseofthis,intheendetc.）;writetheletter!

∙Re-readoldessaysandthinkaboutyourmostcommonerrors（especiallytenses,missing"a"/"the",plural"-s",uncountablenouns,prepositionsoftime/place-inJakarta,inMarch,atnightetc.;vocabulary–goshopping,tobeinterestedin…,toapplyfor…）;writenewsentencesthatfollowthecorrectpatterns（e.g.MybrotherwentshoppingwhilemytwosistersandIwentfishing.）

∙Reviselistsofconnectingwords/phrases:

· Firstly,…Secondly,…Thirdly,…Finally…

· Forexample,…Forinstance,…

· Inaddition,…Also,…Furthermore,…Whatismore,

· Asaresult,…Becauseofthis,…Consequently,…Therefore,…

· Ontheonehand,…Ontheotherhand,…

· Itistruethat…However,…

· …,however,…Incontrast,…Ontheotherhand,…

· Similarly,…

· Anotherargumentagainst_____isthat…

· Anotherdisadvantageof_____isthat…

InformalLetters

Aninformallettershouldbefairlyinformal–butdon’toverdoit!

Theexaminerwillnotbeimpressedbytextmessagingshorthandsuchas"U"foryou.Likewise,avoidexcessiveuseofslang:

yourobjectiveistodemonstrateyourknowledgeofstandardEnglishvocabularyandgrammar.

Thecontentofinformallettersisdifficulttopredict.However,theyoftenincludeanaccountofrecentevents.Ifyouhavetowritealetterlikethis,thentakecarewithyourverbs!

Also,trytousesometimephrases（e.g.Shortlyafterthat,Later,Thatafternoon,Afterdinner,…）Trytouseagoodrangeofvocabularytoo,avoidingdullwordssuchas"nice","fun"and"scary".

BEGINNINGS

∙Itwasgoodtohearfromyou.

∙Sorryfornotreplyingsooner.Ihavebeenverybusy.

∙Sorryfortakingsolongtoreply.Ihavebeenrevisingformyexams.

CONCLUSIONS

∙Well,that’sallmynewsfornow.

∙It’sgettinglate,soI’dbetterstopnow.

∙I’dbetterstopnow.It’spastmidnightandIhaveanexamtomorrow.

∙I’dbetterfinish–I’mrunningoutofspace.

∙Icanhardlywaittomeetyou.

∙Pleasewriteagainsoon.

∙Pleasekeepintouch.

∙Givemyregardsto…

BESTWISHES

∙LotsofLove

∙Regards

∙Thinkingofyou

Usefulvocabulary:

Ringmeup,pickmeup,keepmyfingerscrossedthat…,dropmealine,catchuponournews,letmeknow,putpentopaper,putyouup,

Sampleinformalletter:

Youareabroadspendingyourholidaysinaveryexcitingplacesyouhavealwayswantedtovisit.Thepeopleyoutravelwitharereallynicesoyouenjoytheircompanionship.Writealettertoyourfrienddescribingwhatyouhavebeendoingsofarandwhatyoustillplantodo.

DearAmy,

Thankyoualotforyourlastletter.Itwasanicesurprisetohearfromyou.It'stakenmeagestoreplybutIhadtoorganisesomethingsconcerningmytrip.

AsyouprobablyrememberI'vealwayswantedtovisitsomeunusualplaces.Andnow,atlast,offIwent!

Butyou'dneverguesswhereI'vechosentospendmyholiday.It'sAntarctica!

Youwouldneverthinkofit,wouldyou?

I'msoexcitedaboutthewholeevent!

ThepeopleItravelwithareincredible.It'stheirfourteenthexpeditionthere.Theyknoweverypathinthesnowbyheartandtheyareveryhelpful.Theysharetheirknowledgeandexperiencewithme.Wouldyoubelievethathereeverythingisdifferent?

Youevenneedtosetyourtentinaspecialway.It'sallverychallenging.TomorrowweplantomovefurtherNorthsoImaynotbeabletostayintouchforawhile.

Anyway,hopeyouareenjoyingyourholiday.Ihopewewillmeetsoonsothatwecancatchuponournews.Dropmea