Practising Cambridge English First Reading Part 1

Contents

A. TEACHERS NOTES ........................................................................................................ 2 A1. Lesson Plan............................................................................................................... 2 A2. Classroom Handout 1.....4 A3. Classroom Handout 2 ................................................................................................ 5 A4. Classroom Handout 2 - Answer Key 6 A5. Suggested homework/self study activities.................................................................. 7 B. GUIDANCE FOR FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES..................................................................... 8

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Practising Cambridge English First Reading Part 1 A. TEACHERS NOTES

Description Time required: Materials required: Aims: 45 minutes Classroom Handout 1 and 2 one copy per student

To practise the skills required for Part 1 of the First Reading Exam in particular detailed comprehension and looking at words in context

A1. Lesson Plan

1. Give out A2. Classroom Handout 1 and write the following question on the board How does Stephen feel about his job? Students read the passage and discuss the question in pairs with their partner and then as a class. (Answers: Stephen is worried about his job/he is late getting to work/he has a holiday booked but hes worried about what will happen if he goes away, etc) Timing: 10 mins 2. Give out A3. Classroom Handout 2 and ask students do exercise 1 in pairs. Check the answers with them (see A4. Classroom Handout 2 - Answer Key) Timing: 5 mins 3. Before students try to do exercise 2 (putting phrases from column A into the gaps) explain how the context will help them to select the correct phrase. Ask students to look at the context around the gap when choosing the phrase that fits in the text. Some phrases may fit grammatically but they wont make sense when you take into account the text that comes before the gap and/or the text that follows the gap. For example A But he wasnt in a very good mood; in fact, he rather liked the idea of a few This phrase fits grammatically but it doesnt make sense if you take into account the text around it. The phrase that follows in fact, he rather liked gives a clue that the missing phrase is something that is neutral or positive (but probably not as positive as rather liked), i.e. he didnt mind too much. 4. Students work in pairs to find the other correct phrases for the gaps. Go through the answers as a class. Timing: 10 mins 5. Ask students to do exercise 3 using the phrases from Column B and go through the answers (see A4. Classroom Handout 2 - Answer Key).
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Practising Cambridge English First Reading Part 1

Timing: 5 mins 6. Write on the board: How does Stephen feel when he sees grey hairs? A. Hes not very bothered about them. B. Hes worried that he might get more. C. He doesnt think they are too serious. D. He wishes he were a bit older. Elicit that this is a multiple-choice question of the type that students might find in the Part 1 of the Cambridge First Reading Exam. They know the answer to this question as they have just answered it in exercise 3. Ask students how the answer differs from the text (it is paraphrased so not exactly as it appears in the text). Then ask students to look at the other options (B, C and D). Ask them whether they think these answers are tempting what makes them tempting? (B and C have wordspots in words that appear in the text worried and serious. D may be tempting because of the wording of the text Stephen rather likes the idea of his grey hairs making him look more serious so this could imply that he would like to be older so hed have more grey hairs (however this isnt stated in the text so this option is not a key). Timing: 5 mins 7. If there is time, ask students to work in pairs and choose one of the other questions from exercise 3 get them to use the answer as the key and then write three other options they can use wordspots or other ideas from the text but they must make sure that their other options are not keys. Look at some of these multiple choice questions on the board. Timing: 10 mins

Please note: writing a multiple-choice question is a highly-skilled job and students are not expected to write one that is like they would get in the exam. This is really an awarenessraising activity to show students how paraphrase is used and then how distracters may be operating.

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Practising Cambridge English First Reading Part 1

A2. Classroom Handout 1 When Summer Comes by Helen Naylor
Stephen was thirty-two with dark, curly hair. He had noticed a few grey hairs that morning when he was drying it after his shower. But he (A). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in fact, he rather liked the idea of a few which might make him look serious. But his face showed signs of stress and worry. Stephen left the flat just before seven. He was earlier than usual this morning because he wanted to (B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., but it seemed as if everyone else had the same idea the roads were busy and there had been an accident half way along Sussex Gardens. He waited impatiently while the police (C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . but by the time arrived at work, he was late and (D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . He locked the Saab and went into the cool building. The offices of Jardine and Makepeace, advertising agents, were on the fourth floor of a modern block with wonderful views over Regents Park. But this morning, when Stephen found himself climbing the stairs (the lift (E) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . again), he would happily have given up the views for an office on the ground floor. Please let everything go smoothly today, he said to himself as he (F) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . up the stairs. Stephen was worried about work the agency had lost an important client this week. He felt that Charlie Jardine, the agency boss, (G) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A couple of days before, hed passed by Charlies office and had heard him saying on the phone, Yes, well, Ill have to talk to Stephen about that. He was the one working on their new advertisement. Stephen hadnt heard any more but he thought that Charlie sounded a bit angry. He wondered if it was a bad time to go on holiday perhaps his job would disappear when he was away. But he didnt want to miss the break and in any case, Anna (H) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . if he suggested cancelling. So he said nothing to her about his worries. He often found it hard to talk about his problems, even with Anna. Who knows why, she was usually willing to listen.
Helen Naylor, When Summer Comes, 1999 Cambridge University Press, reproduced with permission www.cambridge.org/gb/elt/catalogue/subject/project/pricing/isbn/item1161057/?site_locale=en_GB

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Practising Cambridge English First Reading Part 1

A3. Classroom Handout 2
EXERCISE 1 With a partner, look at the expressions in column A. Do you know what they mean? Can you match them to a paraphrase in column B? Column A 1. kill him 2. avoid the rush hour 3. was out of order 4. sort it out 5. not mind too much 6. not in a very good mood 7. blame him 8. make your way Column B a. get to somewhere b. say he is responsible c. be really unhappy with him d. not be very bothered e. not particularly happy f. not get stuck in traffic g. solve the problem h. wasnt working

EXERCISE 2 Put the phrases from column A in the gaps in Classroom handout 1 (A-H). You may need to change the expressions slightly so they make sense.

EXERCISE 3 Now look at the questions below about the text. Try to answer the questions using phrases from column B above. 1. How does Stephen feel when he finds grey hairs? 2. Why did Stephen leave early for work? 3. How does Stephen feel when he arrives at work? 4. What is wrong with the lift?

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Practising Cambridge English First Reading Part 1 A4. Classroom Handout 2 Answer Key
EXERCISE 1 1c, 2f, 3h, 4g, 5d, 6e, 7b, 8a

EXERCISE 2 (A) didnt mind too much (B) avoid the rush hour (C) sorted it out (D) not in a very good mood (E) was out of order (F) made his way (G) blamed him (H) would kill him

EXERCISE 3 1. Hes not very bothered. 2. So he didnt get stuck in traffic. 3. Not particularly happy. 4. It wasnt working.

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Practising Cambridge English First Reading Part 1 A5. Suggested homework/self study activities
1. For homework, you could ask students to choose another question from exercise 3 and change it to a multiple-choice question. It is good to encourage students to read fiction as this kind of text is often used in this part of the reading paper. Encourage your students to look for readers that they find interesting. You can find samples of some readers on some publishers websites. For example, Cambridge University Press allows you to read samples of some of its readers at: http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/catalog/subject/project/custom/item2505731/Camb ridge-English-Readers-Sample-chapters/?site_locale=en_US

2. You could ask your students to choose one of the sample chapters from the website above and write some questions about it (like the questions in Exercise 3 not multiplechoice questions) They could then bring these questions to the next class and give them to another student who could then read the sample chapter they are based on and answer the questions.

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Practising Cambridge English First Reading Part 1 B. GUIDANCE FOR FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES
1. If you want to create a similar lesson to this, find a B2-level reader to base your lesson on. Look on the back of the reader to find the level (B2 level is usually level 4). Select phrases/expressions from the text that may be challenging to your students (see exercise 1 for examples of phrases/expressions that are good to target). 2. Another good source of level-appropriate expressions can be found at The English Vocabulary Profile. You need to register to use this at http://www.englishprofile.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&It emid=5 You can then do a search on phrases at B2 level (see screen shot select B2 and in Advanced Search Category select phrases) this can help you pinpoint language that your students may be tested on in the Cambridge First exam and create similar exercises to the ones done in this lesson.

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