Exam insight 1

Listening

1Check you understand the meanings of the words in the box. 

MOVE
• amazing
• charity
• confirmed
• countryside
• traffic

Next exercise

 2EXAM TASK Listen to three people talking about India. Match questions 1–5 to speaker A–C. You can use the letters more than once. 

Exam strategy

• ■Read the exam task and identify the topic.

  ■Read each question carefully.

  ■Underline the key words, so you know what to listen for.

• 1Which person is worried about something?

• 2Which person thinks that what they do is important?

• 3Which person is describing a journey?

• 4Which person is talking formally to a group of people?

• 5Which person is asking for some suggestions?

Reading

3Read the text about Coober Pedy quickly. Find the answers to the questions. 

Exam strategy

• ■Read the task carefully. Make sure you know what you have to do.

  ■You don't need to understand every word in the text to complete the task. Concentrate on what you do understand.

COOBER PEDY

– OPAL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

A In February 1915, fourteen-year-old Willie Hutchison found an opal, a valuable blue-green stone, in the South Australian desert and within months the town of Coober Pedy was born. People came from all over the world hoping to move in, stay a short time and leave rich.

D There are many tours you can take from Coober Pedy. You can travel into the desert on dusty dirt roads. You can visit the opal mines. You can even try your luck at finding opals yourself. A few years ago one lucky tourist dug up an opal worth $50,000.

B The first thing the visitor will notice about Coober Pedy is what an unusual place it is. Summer temperatures can reach as high as 50°C and, as a result, the majority of people live in underground homes, called 'dugouts'. Under the ground the temperature is a more pleasant 22–26°C.

E Coober Pedy is still the opal capital of the world. Even now it produces 70% of the world's opals. It also still pulls in people from all around the world. Amongst the 3,500 people who live there at the moment, there are forty-five different nationalities.

C It isn't just homes that are underground either. There are underground hotels and bars. There are underground shops and restaurants. There's an underground art gallery and an underground church. And there's the world's only underground casino.

F If you're thinking of visiting, it's best to avoid the summer. Between April and October is the best time. The nights are very cold, but the days are a reasonable 16–20°C.

• 1Where is Coober Pedy?

• 2What is the weather like there?

• 3Why do people go there?

Reading

4EXAM TASK Read the text. Match the information in headings 1–7 to paragraphs A–F. There is one heading that you do not need. Mark it (-). 

Exam strategy

• ■Read the task carefully. Make sure you know what you have to do.

  ■You don't need to understand every word in the text to complete the task. Concentrate on what you do understand.

COOBER PEDY

– OPAL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

AIn February 1915, fourteen-year-old Willie Hutchison found an opal, a valuable blue-green stone, in the South Australian desert and within months the town of Coober Pedy was born. People came from all over the world hoping to move in, stay a short time and leave rich.

DThere are many tours you can take from Coober Pedy. You can travel into the desert on dusty dirt roads. You can visit the opal mines. You can even try your luck at finding opals yourself. A few years ago one lucky tourist dug up an opal worth $50,000.

BThe first thing the visitor will notice about Coober Pedy is what an unusual place it is. Summer temperatures can reach as high as 50°C and, as a result, the majority of people live in underground homes, called 'dugouts'. Under the ground the temperature is a more pleasant 22–26°C.

ECoober Pedy is still the opal capital of the world. Even now it produces 70% of the world's opals. It also still pulls in people from all around the world. Amongst the 3,500 people who live there at the moment, there are forty-five different nationalities.

CIt isn't just homes that are underground either. There are underground hotels and bars. There are underground shops and restaurants. There's an underground art gallery and an underground church. And there's the world's only underground casino.

FIf you're thinking of visiting, it's best to avoid the summer. Between April and October is the best time. The nights are very cold, but the days are a reasonable 16–20°C.

• 1The best time to go to Coober Pedy

• 2The reason there is a town at Coober Pedy

• 3The number of opals Coober Pedy produces each year

• 4Things a tourist can see near the town

• 5The weather in summer

• 6The way Coober Pedy is different from other towns

• 7The reason Coober Pedy is still important today

Use of English

5EXAM TASK Choose the correct way to complete the sentence. 

Exam strategy

• ■Read each of the options and decide which ones are definitely wrong.

  ■Read the sentences again with each of the options in place and decide which sounds the best.

• 1While I was travellingam travellingtraveltravels across Australia, I visited Alice Springs.

• 2What type of volunteer work are you interested ofintoat?

• 3I moved to New York since five yearsfive years oldfive years agoafter five years.

• 4Couchsurfing is a good way to behavedomake friends.

• 5She stays foris spendingspentlives for a long time in Spain, that's why she speaks such good Spanish.

• 6Visitors come to Ellis Island to learn about the history of theof theirtheytheir families.

• 7We decided to get toget offget awayget through from everything and experience the world.

• 8I was looking for the station whilesincewhenas it started raining.

SPEAKING EXAM STRATEGY Look at the photo carefully and think about what it shows and how the people in it might feel. Don't forget to give reasons for your ideas. 6  Look at the photo. Which three words from the list below will you need to describe the photo? Speak for no longer than one minute. airport ashamed excited plane smiling taste trip volunteer  Select Record Audio to record yourself.  If you want to add a note to your teacher, write it in the Comments box.  Select Submit to dropbox to send the recording to your teacher.

EXAM STRATEGY Look at the photo carefully and think about what it shows and how the people in it might feel. Don't forget to give reasons for your ideas. EXAM TASK 7  Answer the questions about the photo. Give your reasons for your answers. Speak for no longer than one minute. Do you think these people are going on holiday or returning home? Why? Would you prefer to go on holiday with your family or friends? Why? Tell me about a holiday you enjoyed.  Select Record Audio to record yourself.  If you want to add a note to your teacher, write it in the Comments box.  Select Submit to dropbox to send the recording to your teacher.

WRITING EXAM STRATEGY Before you start writing, think about what type of text you have to write. Decide what style of language you need to use and think about the diffferences between formal and informal writing

8  Read the exam task and answer the following questions: Is your email formal or informal? How many paragraphs has it got? How will you start and end your email? EXAM TASK 9  A student from Sweden stayed with you as part of a student exchange. Write an email to a friend about the exchange. Include the following points: a short description of your visitor. how you spent your time together. a description of something funny that happened during the visit. a reason or reasons why you enjoyed the visit.

1.  Write your task in another program (e.g. Word).
2.  Save the file to your computer.
3.  Upload your file.
4.  If you want to add a note to your teacher, write it in the Comments box.
5.  Select Submit to Dropbox to send your work to your teacher.