Skills for Life Entry 1 Reading: Multiple-matching Questions

Teacher’s Notes

Description
In this activity students are introduced to multiple-matching questions which require them to scan-read
different texts for detailed information. The activity also shows students how they might approach questions
of this type.

Teacher’s Notes

Aims of the lesson • to familiarise students with multiple-matching questions of a

type that is common in the Entry 1 Reading exam
• to show students how they might approach multiple-
matching questions of this type

Time needed 30 minutes

Materials required • Student’s Worksheet 1 – project on to a screen, if

available, or handwrite on the board.
• Student’s Worksheet 2 – one copy for each student. (Text
slightly adapted from Part 3 of Entry 1 Reading Past Paper
2006 available at www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-
qualifications/skills-for-life/how-to-prepare)
• Student’s Worksheet 3 – project on to a screen, if
available, or handwrite on the board. (Questions slightly
adapted from Past Paper, as above)
• Student’s Worksheet 4 – one copy for each student.
(Questions slightly adapted from Past Paper, as above)

Procedure
1. Explain to the students that in the Entry 1 Reading exam there are different kinds of questions but
today they are going to look at one type of question which requires them to look for information in
different texts. To do these questions, they need to read quickly but also carefully.
2. Show Student’s Worksheet 1 on the screen, if available. Alternatively, handwrite the questions on
the board. Ask one of the better readers in the class to read the questions out loud. Check that all
students understand the questions.
3. Explain that the students will have 3 minutes to find and write the answers to the questions. Hand out
Student’s Worksheet 2 so they can read and find the answers. After 3 minutes, check answers with
the whole group. (See Key to Student’s Worksheet 1.)
© UCLES 2014. For further information see our Terms and Conditions.
Information is correct as of January 2015
 4. Ask students to look quickly through the texts for all words to do with ‘eating’ or ‘cooking’ (e.g. food,
dinner, restaurant). Tell students to underline/highlight all these words. Give students 2 minutes for
this, then with the whole class, check which words they have underlined. (See Key to step 4.)
5. Show Question 1 from Student’s Worksheet 3 on the board. (Project on to a screen or handwrite.)
Ask one student to read the question out loud, then give all students 1 minute to find the answer.
Check answer with whole class and ask students to justify answer. Go through what each person
says about cooking and friends. (See Key to step 5.)
6. Ask students to look quickly through the texts for all words to do with ‘sport’ (e.g. play, football,
swimming). Tell students to underline/highlight all these words. Give students 2 minutes for this. With
the whole class, check which words they have underlined. (See Key to step 6.)
7. Show Question 2 from Student’s Worksheet 3 on the board. (Project on to a screen or handwrite.)
Ask one student to read the question out loud then give all students 1 minute to find the answer.
Check answer with whole class and ask students to justify answer. Go through what each person
says about sport. (See Key to step 7.)
8. Hand out Student’s Worksheet 4. Tell students they have 5 minutes to find the answers to
Questions 3, 4 and 5. Encourage them to underline/highlight key words and phrases in the texts.
Monitor activity and then check with the whole class, asking students to justify answers. (See Key to
step 8.)
9. Explain to students that the way people prefer to do comprehension tasks varies. However, for many
students the approach they have taken in this activity is helpful. Ask students to recall the steps they
went through. Summarise the approach:

• Read the texts quickly for a general idea about the format and main subject matter.

• Read the first question, underlining or highlighting the important words or phrases.

• Look through the texts highlighting/underlining words and phrases relating to the question.

• Read around the highlighted/underlined words carefully before choosing the answer.

• Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 for subsequent questions.

Also, remind students to be careful about wordspotting (the same word in the question and text), to
think about the meaning of the whole sentence, and to look for other ways of saying the same thing
(paraphrasing).

Additional information
At Entry 1, ‘wordspotting’ may sometimes be possible, particularly in those reading tasks which require
scanning for specific, concrete information. However, students should be careful not to assume that word
matches always work.

© UCLES 2014. For further information see our Terms and Conditions.
Information is correct as of January 2015
Suggested follow-up activities/questions (and answers)
1. In Skills for Life Reading exams, multiple-matching questions also often involve multiple choice (see
the example task in this activity). For further work on multiple-choice questions, see activity Skills for
Life Entry 1 Reading: Multiple-choice questions.
2. See past papers at www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-qualifications/skills-for-life/how-to-prepare
for more multiple-matching questions.

© UCLES 2014. For further information see our Terms and Conditions.
Information is correct as of January 2015
Skills for Life Entry 1 Reading: Multiple-matching Questions Answer Keys

Key to Procedure steps

Step 4: important words relating to eating and cooking highlighted

Qian’s text
My name is Qian. I come from Beijing – it’s a big city in China – but now I live in Bradford. I work in a
restaurant all weekend and I study English at college during the week, so I don’t have much free time. I go
swimming on my own 3 times a week in the evening and sometimes I meet friends from Leeds on Saturday
nights. We go to the cinema or eat in a Chinese restaurant.

Ali’s text
My name is Ali. I’m from Turkey and I live in Cardiff in the city centre. I love football and in my free time I like
watching football on television at my friend’s café. They have Turkish television at the café. I don’t play much
sport because I work Monday to Saturday in a shop. At home I listen to the radio and I have lots of CDs from
my country. I like making food, and sometimes I invite my friends for dinner at my flat.

Sahra’s text
My name is Sahra. I am Somali and I live in London. I’ve got 3 children and I do a lot of housework. I don’t
like sport but I think TV is good – it helps me learn new words. My favourite TV programme is EastEnders on
BBC1. On Sundays we usually go to visit my friends and they cook for us. I’ve got one friend in Manchester –
in the north of England – and we go to stay with her in the school holidays.

Step 5:
Question 1
Qian works in a restaurant and eats (with friends) in a Chinese restaurant. But he/she doesn’t say anything
about cooking for friends.
Ali says I like making food and I invite my friends for dinner at my flat. This means he cooks for friends.
Sahra says (we) visit my friends and they cook for us. So Sahra doesn’t say she cooks for friends.

Step 6: important words relating to sport highlighted

Qian’s text
My name is Qian. I come from Beijing – it’s a big city in China – but now I live in Bradford. I work in a
restaurant all weekend and I study English at college during the week, so I don’t have much free time. I go
swimming on my own 3 times a week in the evening and sometimes I meet friends from Leeds on Saturday
nights. We go to the cinema or eat in a Chinese restaurant.

© UCLES 2014. For further information see our Terms and Conditions.
Information is correct as of January 2015
Ali’s text
My name is Ali. I’m from Turkey and I live in Cardiff in the city centre. I love football and in my free time I like
watching football on television at my friend’s café. They have Turkish television at the café. I don’t play much
sport because I work Monday to Saturday in a shop. At home I listen to the radio and I have lots of CDs from
my country. I like making food, and sometimes I invite my friends for dinner at my flat.

Sahra’s text
My name is Sahra. I am Somali and I live in London. I’ve got 3 children and I do a lot of housework. I don’t
like sport but I think TV is good – it helps me learn new words. My favourite TV programme is EastEnders on
BBC1. On Sundays we usually go to visit my friends and they cook for us. I’ve got one friend in Manchester –
in the north of England – and we go to stay with her in the school holidays.

Step 7:
Question 2
Qian says I go swimming … 3 times a week. This means Qian does sport every week.
Ali says I love football … in my free time I like watching football on television … I don’t play much sport. So,
Ali doesn’t do sport every week.
Sahra says I don’t like sport. She doesn’t say anything else about sport, so we can assume she doesn’t do
sport every week.

Step 8:
Question 3
Qian says I come from Beijing … I live in Bradford … sometimes I meet friends from Leeds. But Qian doesn’t
mention going to other cities.
Ali says I live in Cardiff in the city centre but says nothing about going to another city.
Sahra says I live in London … I’ve got one friend in Manchester … and we go to stay with her in the school
holidays. So, we know that she sometimes goes to another city.

Question 4
Qian says I work in a restaurant all weekend. This means that Qian works on Sundays.
Ali says I work Monday to Saturday in a shop but nothing about working on Sundays.
Sahra says On Sundays we usually go to visit my friends. This means she doesn’t work on Sundays.

© UCLES 2014. For further information see our Terms and Conditions.
Information is correct as of January 2015
Question 5
Qian says I study English but says nothing about watching television.
Ali says I like watching football on television at my friend’s café. They have Turkish television at the café. He
says nothing about watching television in English.
Sahra says I think TV is good – it helps me learn new words. My favourite TV programme is EastEnders on
BBC1. BBC1 is in English so Sahra watches television in English.

Key to Student’s Worksheet 1

1. How many texts are there? three
2. What are the writers’ first names? Qian, Ali, Sahra
3. Which country does each writer come from? China, Turkey, Somalia
4. Which city does each writer live in now? Bradford, Cardiff, London (in case students don’t know,
Bradford and London are in England; Cardiff is in Wales)

Key to Student’s Worksheet 3

Question 1
Who cooks for friends? Tick (√) one box.
Qian
Ali
√
Sahra

Question 2
Who does sport every week? Tick (√) one box.
Qian
√
Ali
Sahra

Key to Student’s Worksheet 4

Question 3
Who sometimes goes to another city? Tick (√) one box.
Qian
Ali
Sahra
√

© UCLES 2014. For further information see our Terms and Conditions.
Information is correct as of January 2015
Question 4
Who works on Sunday? Tick (√) one box.
Qian √
Ali
Sahra

Question 5
Who likes watching television in English? Tick (√) one box.
Qian
Ali
Sahra
√

© UCLES 2014. For further information see our Terms and Conditions.
Information is correct as of January 2015
Skills for Life Entry 1 Reading: Multiple-matching Questions Student’s
Worksheet 1

1. How many texts are there?

2. What are the writers’ first names?

3. Which country does each writer come from?

4. Which city does each writer live in now?

© UCLES 2014. For further information see our Terms and Conditions.
Information is correct as of January 2015
Skills for Life Entry 1 Reading: Multiple-matching Questions Student’s
Worksheet 2

Some students write about their free time in a student magazine.

Read the texts and answer the questions.

Qian Chen
My name is Qian. I come from Beijing – it’s a big city in China –
but now I live in Bradford. I work in a restaurant all weekend and
I study English at college during the week, so I don’t have much
free time. I go swimming on my own 3 times a week in the
evening and sometimes I meet friends from Leeds on Saturday
nights. We go to the cinema or eat in a Chinese restaurant.

Ali Canpolat
My name is Ali. I’m from Turkey and I live in Cardiff in the city
centre. I love football and in my free time I like watching football
on television at my friend’s café. They have Turkish television at
the café. I don’t play much sport because I work Monday to
Saturday in a shop. At home I listen to the radio and I have lots
of CDs from my country. I like making food, and sometimes I
invite my friends for dinner at my flat.

Sahra Dinow
My name is Sahra. I am Somali and I live in London. I’ve got 3
children and I do a lot of housework. I don’t like sport but I think
TV is good – it helps me learn new words. My favourite TV
programme is EastEnders on BBC1. On Sundays we usually go
to visit my friends and they cook for us. I’ve got one friend in
Manchester – in the north of England – and we go to stay with
her in the school holidays.

© UCLES 2014. For further information see our Terms and Conditions.
Information is correct as of January 2015
Skills for Life Entry 1 Reading: Multiple-matching Questions Student’s
Worksheet 3

Question 1
Who cooks for friends? Tick (√) one box.
Qian
Ali
Sahra

Question 2
Who does sport every week? Tick (√) one box.
Qian
Ali
Sahra

© UCLES 2014. For further information see our Terms and Conditions.
Information is correct as of January 2015
Skills for Life Entry 1 Reading: Multiple-matching Questions Student’s
Worksheet 4

Question 3
Who sometimes goes to another city? Tick (√) one box.
Qian
Ali
Sahra

Question 4
Who works on Sunday? Tick (√) one box.
Qian
Ali
Sahra

Question 5
Who likes watching television in English? Tick (√) one box.
Qian
Ali
Sahra

© UCLES 2014. For further information see our Terms and Conditions.
Information is correct as of January 2015