Teacher’s Notes
Content
You can monitor your students’ progress after every unit
and every pair of units, with unit tests and progress tests. An
entry test is also provided for each level of the course for
you to assess your students’ level of English at the start of
the school year.
For the grammar and vocabulary components of the tests,
there are two levels of difficulty: standard and extra
challenge.
The standard exercises (without EXTRA label) cover the
grammar and vocabulary points of the unit at the same level
of challenge as the Student’s Book.
Exercises labelled EXTRA cover the same material but at a
higher degree of challenge which should stretch the more
able students whilst still testing the same language. They also
include some of the vocabulary from the Vocabulary Bank,
which can be found at the back of the Student’s Book.
For each level, the tests include:
1 entry test for the start of the school year
14 unit tests (grammar and vocabulary with two levels of
difficulty)
7 progress tests (grammar and vocabulary with two levels
of difficulty, reading, listening, writing, speaking, Everyday
English)
Entry test
This comprises a total of 75 items (15 exercises with five
items each) with a focus on grammar and vocabulary. The
test can be used purely as a diagnostic entry test or to
provide extra remedial practice.
Unit tests (x 14)
Grammar
Each test contains four grammar exercises (two standard
and two extra challenge). In some cases, only one extra
challenge exercise is provided. However this is a longer
exercise and is worth ten marks, rather than the usual five.
Vocabulary
Each test contains four vocabulary exercises (two standard
and two extra challenge). These tests are marked out of 20
(five marks per exercise).
Progress Tests (x 7)
Grammar
Each test contains three or four grammar exercises.
As with the unit tests, these exercises cover the main
grammar points from the preceding two units and have two
levels of difficulty.
Vocabulary
Each test contains three or four vocabulary exercises.
As with the unit tests, these exercises cover the main lexical
sets from the preceding two units and have two levels of
difficulty.
Reading
In the reading section, there is one text with one set of
comprehension questions. The task types and formats
correlate where possible with the University of Cambridge
ESOL KET, PET and FCE exams and Trinity Integrated Skills.
They are designed to test students on the type of subskills
practised in the Student’s Book, such as reading for specific
information or gist.
Listening
In the listening section, students listen to one extract: a
dialogue, a monologue or several speakers. They are tested
on their general understanding of, for example, the topics
discussed or the speakers’ attitudes. They may have to
choose from true/false statements, label pictures or
complete gapped information. The task types and formats
correlate where possible with the University of Cambridge
KET, PET and FCE exams and Trinity Integrated Skills.
Writing
Students are given a model text relating to the topic of the
Culture in Mind section of the relevant unit (1, 3, 5, etc.).
They use this model text to complete a writing task which
correlates where possible with the University of Cambridge
KET, PET and FCE exams and Trinity Integrated Skills. This is
awarded a maximum of 15 marks, based on performance in
three areas: relevant content, appropriate use of grammar
and vocabulary and spelling and punctuation.
Speaking
There are two parts to the speaking element of the test:
Part 1: Students are required to answer specific questions
which you will ask them. These are based on the language
of the preceding units and are designed to help students
activate the language they have learned and demonstrate
their knowledge of the key grammar and vocabulary.
Part 2: Students interact in a role-play using prompt cards
as provided by you. The task types and formats correlate
where possible with the University of Cambridge KET, PET
and FCE exams and Trinity Integrated Skills.
You should assess your students’ performance according to
the following criteria: task completion (Have they included
the main points in their prompts? Have their responses been
relevant? Have they managed to communicate their ideas
successfully?); pronunciation; appropriate use of grammar
and vocabulary.
Everyday English
These exercises reflect the Everyday English section of the
corresponding photostory in the even-numbered units
(2, 4, 6, etc.).