Reading Part 3

BEC Preliminary Reading Part 3 – Teacher’s Notes
Description
Students identify different types of graphs and charts, and what they are used for. They decide if sentences
describing a chart are true or false, do exercises matching descriptions to parts of a chart, do a vocabulary exercise
on language used to describe graphs, practise a Part 3 task, and summarise what they need to know about this part
of the test.
Time required: 60 minutes
Materials ▪ Student’s Worksheet (one per student)

required:
Aims: ▪ to familiarise students with the format of Reading Part 3

▪ to help students to understand charts
▪ to familiarise students with the language of describing trends
Procedure
1. Ask students what the English word is for a drawing that shows information, particularly figures, in a simple,
visual way [chart or graph]. Explain that both words are used for several types of drawings, but ‘graph’ tends
to be used when the information is shown using a line or lines, and ‘chart’ when the information is shown in
other ways.
2. Ask if they’ve seen any charts, e.g. in newspapers, in business magazines or in business English books. Ask
if they find them easy to understand [NB: many people find charts very confusing: this activity is designed to
help them].
3. Tell students you are going to work on the three most common types of charts and on the language
associated with them, as they need to interpret graphs and charts in Part 3 of the Reading paper. Give each
student a copy of the Student’s Worksheet. Ask them to look at Exercise 1 and decide what each type of
chart is. Elicit the answers [see Key to Student’s Worksheet].
4. Ask which type of chart is most useful for showing something with figures that change a great deal over a
period of time [2 – graph]. Point out that up to three sets of figures might be shown, each with its own line,
although the more lines there are, the more difficult it becomes to interpret the chart.
5. Ask which chart is most useful for showing a limited number of specific figures, and for comparing more than
one set of figures [3 – bar chart]. Here there are three sets of figures, one for each region].
6. Ask what pie charts (e.g. 1) show [percentages of a whole]. Point out that the example in Exercise 1 shows
how the company’s total sales for the year are divided among the four quarters. The visual impact is to show
the sizes of the segments in relation to each other. Elicit in which quarter sales were highest [in the 3 rd
quarter].
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7. Ask students to read the instructions at the top of the second page of the Student’s Worksheet, and look at
the bar chart, Excess spending. Check their understanding by asking the following questions:
Which word means indirect costs, such as heating, lighting and maintenance? [overheads]
Which word means ‘too much’? [excess]
Which word means money spent on the company’s workers, such as salaries and wages? [labour] Which
word means the cloth, buttons and other things that are used to make the clothing? [materials]
8. Check students can interpret the chart by asking them straightforward questions, such as:
What are A-H? [months of the year]
What does the height of each bar represent? [how much was spent over the budget]
Which of the three categories was most over the budget in month A? [materials]
By how much did labour go over budget in month G? [£3000]
Which category had the same figure in months A and B? [labour]
Point out that the month after H, which isn’t labelled, will become relevant later.
9. Ask them to read the instructions and questions for Exercise 2. Check their understanding by asking the
following questions:
Which word means ‘was the same as’? [‘equalled’, in 5]
Which word means ‘a figure that’s lower than the one before and after’? [‘dip’, in 3]
Which word means ‘a figure that’s the highest in a certain period’? [‘peak’, in 4]
Which phrase means ‘this didn’t happen’? [‘this was not the case’ in 8]
Explain that Exercise 2 will help them to make sure they can interpret the chart. Ask them to do the exercise
in pairs, then check the answers [see Key to Student’s Worksheet].
10. Explain that in Exercise 3 they should read each sentence and find the month or months that it describes.
Ask them if the month after H is a possible answer [no, because according to the second bullet point, the
answers are A-H only]. Point out that the month after H needs to be considered in connection with some
sentences. Ask them to do the exercise in pairs, then check the answers [see Key to Student’s
Worksheet].
11. Ask students to read the instructions for Exercise 4, then to look at the example. Ask them to look at the first
part of the sentence, as far as the comma, and tell you in how many months excess spending on overheads
went down [3 – D, F and H]. Then ask them to look at the whole sentence and tell you how many months it
describes [1 – F]. Point out that the answer must be one of the months described in the first part of the
sentence. Explain that they will need to read sentences like these in Reading Part 3: each sentence starts by
describing two or more of the options, but the rest of the sentence limits it to one, which is the answer.
12. Ask students to do Exercise 4 in pairs. Tell them they can save time by writing the possibilities in the
brackets for questions 1-5, and only looking at those possibilities for the next brackets in the sentence. When
they have finished, check the answers [see Key to Student’s Worksheet].
13. Explain that Exercise 5 focuses on some of the vocabulary used for describing trends, i.e.
movement – for example in costs, market share, number of complaints from customers, etc. They
will need to understand this vocabulary for Reading Part 3. Ask students to do Exercise 5 in pairs, and then
check the answers [see Key to Student’s Worksheet].
14. Ask students to read the instructions for Exercise 6 and look at the graph. Tell them to write their sentences
in pairs, on a separate sheet of paper. Each sentence should describe only one year (AH). Monitor as they
are writing. They should then exchange papers with another pair and answer each other’s questions. If
there’s any disagreement about answers, help the students to check that the sentence only describes one
option, and is accurate.
15. Explain that Exercise 7 is from a past exam, so it’s exactly like a Part 3 task except that they’ve already seen
the chart. Tell them they have about five minutes to answer the questions, and then check the answers [see
Key to Student’s Worksheet].
16. Explain that Exercise 8 summarises what they have found out about Reading Part 3. Ask them to do the
exercise in pairs, then check the answers [see Key to Student’s Worksheet].
17. If any students said at Step 2 that they find charts hard to understand, ask them if they find them any easier
now.
Suggested follow-up activities

1. Encourage students to collect charts from newspapers, magazines and the internet, and to write descriptions
of them, using the vocabulary in this activity plus other standard vocabulary for describing trends.
2. See the preparation ideas in the relevant part of the Preliminary Reading and Writing section of the
Cambridge English Handbook, (Reading, general) and Part 3.
3. Copy Part 3 of the test in the Preliminary Reading and Writing section of the Cambridge English
Handbook and the Answer Sheet and ask students to do the task, aiming at spending 5-10 minutes on it.
NB: the pages from the handbook need to be enlarged.
BEC Preliminary Reading Part 3 – Answer Keys
Key to Student’s Worksheet Exercise 1

1. pie chart
2. graph (also called a line graph or line chart)
3. bar chart

1. Wrong
2. Right 3. Right
4. Right
5. Wrong
6. Right
7. Right
8. Right

1. C and H
2. F
3. D
4. G (NB: although the sentence is also true of the month after H, the instructions indicate that the answers
must be A-H.)
5. D and F

1. (ABCD) (A)
2. (CEGH) (C)
3. (DF) (F)
4. (CH) (H)
5. (BEF) (BE) (B)
Movement up: increase, peak, rise
No movement: constant, steady, unchanged
Movement down: dip, drop, fall
1. gap (a noun)
2. overtook (infinitive: to overtake)

Exercise 7 contains some possible sentences.

1. B
2. G
3. H
4. F
5. D

1. Right 2. Wrong. A – H.
3. Right
4. Wrong. There is always only one right answer.
5. Wrong. You need to read the whole sentence.
6. 5-10
7. instructions
8. shows
9. A-H
10. answer
BEC Preliminary Reading Part 3 – Student’s Worksheet
Exercise 1
Write bar chart, graph or pie chart in each gap.
1 This is a …………………… , which shows how a company’s annual sales are divided among the four quarters.
2 This is a …………………… , which shows a company’s share price during a one-week period.
3 This is a …………………… , which shows a company’s annual turnover in three regions, over a fiveyear
period.
Look at the chart below. It shows the amounts by which a clothing manufacturer’s expenditure on materials, labour
and overheads were above budget over a nine-month period.
Excess Spending
Exercise 2
• Decide if each statement is right or wrong.
• Remember that excess spending means that too much money was spent, so the lower the figure, the better!
1 In month A, excess spending on overheads was at its highest level of the period.
2 In month B, there was an improvement in the amount of excess spending on materials.
3 In month C, there was a dip in excess spending on labour.
4 Month D saw excess spending on materials reach a peak.
5 In month E, excess spending on overheads equalled the figure for materials.
6 In month F, excess spending on labour and overheads moved in opposite directions.
7 Month G saw excess spending on labour fall to one of its best levels of the period.
8 In month H, excess spending on labour continued to fall, although this was not the case in the following month.
Exercise 3
• Look at the chart on the previous page.
• Decide which month or months (A-H) each of the following sentences describes.
• You can use each letter more than once.
1 In these two months, excess spending on materials was the same as the previous month. …… and ……
2 In this month, excess spending on materials reached its best level before starting to rise again. ……
3 In this month, the gap between excess spending on materials and on overheads was at its widest, with
overheads achieving their best figure of the period.
4 In this month, excess spending on overheads overtook the figure for labour. ……
5 In these two months, excess spending on overheads dipped, while the figure for labour rose. …… and
……
Exercise 4
• Look at the chart on the previous page.
• For each sentence 1-5, write in the brackets which months the sentence describes at that point. At the end of
the sentence there will only be one month, which is the answer.
• You can use each letter more than once.
Example:
There was a decline in excess spending on overheads (…DFH…), and a continued reduction in the figure for
materials (…F…).
1 Excess spending on materials and labour were far greater than on overheads (………), although only the
figure for labour remained constant the following month (……).
2 The amount for labour fell (………), while the figures for materials and overheads were unchanged on the
previous month (……).
3 This month saw an increase in excess spending on labour (………), although there was a slight improvement
in the following month (……).
4 In this month the amount for materials remained steady (………), while for overheads there was an
improvement in the figures (……).
5 Excess spending on materials dropped this month (………), while overheads showed an increase (………),
both reaching a figure which was equalled in the following month (……).
Exercise 5
Write the words from the box in the correct column of the table, to show movement or lack of movement.
constant dip rise fall steady
peak drop increase unchanged
Movement up No movement Movement down

(All the words can be used (All the words are adjectives, (All the words can be used
as both nouns and verbs.) and can follow to be or to as both nouns and verbs.)
remain.)
1 Which word in Exercise 3 means the difference between two figures? …………
2 Which word in Exercise 3 means became a greater amount than something else? …………
Exercise 6
• Look at the chart below. It shows how a company has recruited new staff over a ten-year period.
• On a separate sheet of paper, write two or three sentences that each describe a different year, A-H.
Methods of Recruitment
Year
Exercise 7
• Look at the chart below. It shows how a company has recruited new staff over a ten-year period.
• Which year (A-H) does each sentence (1 – 5) below describe?
• Do not use any letter more than once.
Methods of Recruitment
Year
1 ………… There was a slight drop in the use of newspaper adverts on the previous year, while both agency
and online recruitment continued to rise.
2 ………… This year more staff were recruited through agencies than either newspaper or online adverts, but
both these methods experienced an increase on the previous year.
3 ………… There was an increase in both employment agency and online recruitment on the previous year,
although recruitment through newspaper adverts fell sharply.
4 ………… Fewer employees were recruited through newspaper adverts this year than the previous year and
online recruitment also declined.
5 ………… This year the number of candidates recruited online rose sharply on the previous year’s figure, while
the numbers recruited through employment agencies fell slightly.
Exercise 8
Facts about Reading Part 3

Read each statement. If it’s right, put a tick (√). If it’s wrong, put a cross (x) and correct it.
1 ……… There are five questions.

2 ……… The possible answers are A – J.
3 ……… Every answer is different.
4 ……… Some questions have more than one right answer.
5 ……… You can work out the answer by reading the last part of the sentence only.
Advice about Reading Part 3

Complete these sentences with a word, letters or numbers from the box.
answer instructions period shows

A-H A-J 2-3 5-10
6 You should spend about ……………… minutes on Part 3.

7 Read the ……………… and everything on the chart (e.g. the heading, the categories along the bottom of the
graph and the units or values up the side of the graph).
8 Look at the chart carefully to understand what it ……………… .
9 Write down which options (………………) the first part of the sentence describes, and look only at those after
reading each additional piece of information.
10 If the chart includes data that isn’t labelled with a letter, it needs to be considered, but it will never be the
……………… .

Reading Part 3

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BEC Preliminary Reading Part 3 – Teacher’s Notes

Materials ▪ Student’s Worksheet (one per student)

Aims: ▪ to familiarise students with the format of Reading Part 3

Suggested follow-up activities

Key to Student’s Worksheet Exercise 1

Key to Student’s Worksheet Exercise 2

Key to Student’s Worksheet Exercise 3

Key to Student’s Worksheet Exercise 4

Key to Student’s Worksheet Exercise 6

Key to Student’s Worksheet Exercise 7

Key to Student’s Worksheet Exercise 8

Movement up No movement Movement down

Facts about Reading Part 3

1 ……… There are five questions.

Advice about Reading Part 3

answer instructions period shows

6 You should spend about ……………… minutes on Part 3.

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