FIRST TERM EXAM

Pre- intermediate II
SPEAKING

PART 1 (Individual)
15 minutes
(10 points)

Read the content below from a UK Magazine.

What is KTV?

If you visit a country in Asia you may see a lot

of street signs with 'KTV' written on them.
These signs are advertising KTV bars. KTV
bars are places where people can do karaoke.
Karaoke is an activity where people sing
famous songs. The words to the songs are
displayed on a TV screen and people sing
them out loud. Karaoke was invented in Japan
in the 1980s and became popular around the
world in the 1990s. The global karaoke market
is estimated to be worth $10 billion.

Inside KTV bars are individual karaoke rooms. The karaoke rooms are decorated with
party lights and comfortable sofas. You choose the songs you want to sing by using a
touchscreen computer or an app on your phone. You can also order food and drinks
which you are allowed to consume inside the karaoke room.

The price of renting a karaoke room depends on the quality of the KTV bar and how
many hours you want to use the room for. Some KTV bars are expensive as the
karaoke rooms are big and well decorated. Other KTV bars are inexpensive as the
karaoke rooms are small and have less glamorous decorations.

You can also do karaoke at home. All you need is a microphone, a television and a
games console with karaoke video games. Today there are lots of karaoke video
games to choose from. You can buy video games featuring one artist, such as The
Black Eyed Peas, or multiple artists, such as SingStar.
Karaoke is a really fun activity because you can do it with your friends, family and
colleagues. You can also dance and play instruments such as tambourines and
maracas. I enjoy KTV so much I try and go as often as possible. Since arriving in China
four months ago I have been to KTV three times!
By LetticeBlogger
Resource: https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/magazine/music/what-ktv

Task discussion

According to the text, express your opinion and provide reasons as fully as possible.
You will have 1 minute to reply to the statements below. Use linking words.
PART 2 (Pairs)
20 minutes
(10 points)

Read the content below from a UK Magazine

Do emojis and GIFs restrict our language and communication?

Recently I read Nineteen Eighty-Four, a

dystopian novel by George Orwell set in a
totalitarian state where even the language
they use is controlled. Adjectives are
forbidden and instead they use phrases such
as 'ungood', 'plus good' and 'double plus
good' to express emotions. As I first read this
I thought how impossible it would be in our
society to have such vocabulary. However,
the more I thought about it, the more I
realised in its own way it's already happening. I type messages to my friends and
alongside each is the obligatory emoji. I often use them to emphasise something, or to
not seem too serious, or because this specific GIF conveys my emotions much better
than I ever could using just words. And I wonder, with our excessive use of emojis, are
we losing the beauty and diversity of our vocabulary?

English has the largest vocabulary in the world, with over one million words, but who's
to say what it'll be like in the future? Perhaps we will have a shorter language, full of
saying 'cry face' if something sad happens or using abbreviations like LOL (laugh out
loud) or BRB (be right back) instead of saying the full phrase. So does this mean our
vocab will shrink? Is it the start of an exciting new era? Will they look back on us in the
future and say this is where it all began – the new language? Or is this a classic case
of the older generations saying, 'Things weren't like that when I was younger. We didn't
use emoticons to show our emotions'?

Yet when you look back over time, the power of image has always been there. Even in
the prehistoric era they used imagery to communicate, and what's even more
incredible is that we are able to analyse those drawings and understand the meaning
of them thousands of years later. Pictures have the ability to transcend time and
language. Images, be it cave paintings or emojis, allow us to convey a message that's
not restrictive but rather universal. 
By: ElsaBlogger2017
Resource: https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/magazine/science-technology/do-emojis-gifs-restrict-our-language-
communication

Task discussion

Information to be provided

Student A and B
Statements
1. Information to be given
Speaking Rubric

Assessment speaking

Low Poor Fair Good Excellent

(0 points) (1-5 points) (6-10 points) (11- 15 (16-20 points)
points)

Low Student was able Pausing and Pausing and Students were
performance to ask or respond hesitations hesitations able to
to questions but interfered with did not communicate
with significant the audience's interfere clearly with no
hesitation and understanding of with the difficulty.
pauses. Answers the response. audience's Answers were
were awkward Answers were ability to clear and
and awkward and comprehend comprehensible.
incomprehensible. incomprehensible the
to understand at speaker's
times message.