Cambridge English: First for Schools Reading and Use of English Paper Part 2 Aims of the lesson to familiarise students with the Cambridge English: First for Schools Reading and Use of English Paper Part 2 to introduce them to the strategies needed to tackle this kind of task Time needed 30-40 minutes Materials required Student s Worksheet 1 (one copy for each student) Student s Worksheet 2 (copied and cut up into slips) Student s Worksheet 3 (one copy for each student) Procedure 1. Before the class, copy Student s worksheet 2 and cut the words up into slips, so that there are enough for at least one slip of paper for each pair of students. Copy Student s worksheets 1 and 3 so there is one copy for each student. 2. Write the title of the text on the board (Young Enterprise) and elicit what students think they are going to read about. 3. Give each student a copy of Student s worksheet 1. Ask them to read it quickly, ignoring the gaps (allow about 3 minutes for this). 4. Ask the students if any of their predictions from Step 2 regarding the content were correct. Establish what the text is about (an organisation which helps young people to learn business skills). 5. Tell the students that they have to try to fill each gap in the text with one word only. Ask them to look at the text in pairs. Tell them that they MUST put one word in each gap. None of the gaps can be left blank. Allow about eight minutes for students to fill the gaps with their partners. http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/footer/terms-and-conditions/ 1
6. Give each pair (or group of three depending on numbers) a slip of paper from Student s worksheet 2. If there are fewer than 18 students, give pairs who finish first another slip of paper. Students decide which gap is filled by their word. 7. Whole class feedback (see Answer key below). Write the correct answers on the board. 8. Discuss with students: How did you decide which word could fill the gap? Did you read the word before the gap? Did you read the word after the gap? Did you read the whole sentence or paragraph to check if the answer made sense? Elicit that candidates need to read the whole sentence, and that they will get clues about how to fill the gap from the word(s) before and after it, and from the text as a whole. (See Answer key for examples.) 9. Focus students attention on the words on the board. Elicit what these words have in common (they are all examples of grammar words). Point out the focus of this task is mostly grammatical, e.g. prepositions, articles, auxiliaries, pronouns, although there may sometimes be an element of vocabulary as well, e.g. phrasal verbs, linkers, and words within fixed phrases. 10. Give each student a copy of the Student s worksheet 3. Students decide in pairs whether each sentence on the worksheet is true or false. 11. Feed back with the whole class (see Answer key). Discuss any queries the students have about the task. Ask them if they found it easy or difficult, and reassure them that you will practise this type of activity more if necessary before the exam. Additional information On the answer sheet, students have to write the word in CAPITAL letters. If there are two possible words which can fill a gap, students must only give one answer. If they give two answers and one of them is incorrect, they will not be given a mark. Students should not record the example (0) on the exam answer sheet. Suggested follow-up activities To improve their performance in this task, groups of students can be given short texts and asked to create open cloze tests for other groups. One group could only prepositions, another articles, etc., or they could gap a mixture of auxiliary verbs, determiners, prepositions, articles, etc. Students could talk together and discuss the following questions from the board: 1. How prepared are you for the future in the world of work? 2. How much should schools help their students to prepare for their future working life? 3. What does your school do to help you? 4. Do you think the Young Enterprise scheme would work in your school? 5. Would you like to work in the world of business? 6. If you could set up a business, what would it be? http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/footer/terms-and-conditions/ 2
Answer key Procedure step 8 question 10: the word set just before the gap provides a clue, but candidates also have to understand the overall meaning of the text. They know the text is about enterprise, and the word set can be followed by up to form a phrasal verb meaning to start something, in this case a business. So this answer fits with the general meaning of the text. question 11: candidates have to look at the whole sentence. Several words before the gap there is a clue from the word either, which suggests the idea of alternatives. They have to understand the structure and meaning of the sentence to supply the word or in the gap. Student s worksheet 1 9 ABOUT (preposition fixed phrase: what about) 10 UP (set up phrasal verb) 11 OR (conjunction) this is a difficult question as it requires students to read the whole sentence and understand that the or is connected to the initial either. 12 BE (verb) 13 WHY (adverb) 14 NOT (adverb: gives the next words a negative meaning) 15 ONE (determiner) 16 HAS (auxiliary verb) Student s worksheet 3 1. Candidates should look at the title and read through the text before filling in any gaps, so that they have an idea of what the text is about. 2. There are 8 gaps, plus one example. 3. True 4. See Additional information. (If you want to give students an example of a gap that could be filled with different words, look at some words in the text: that in the first paragraph could be replaced with which ; another example is Every in the second paragraph that could be replaced with Each. 5. True It is never a good idea to leave a gap unfilled. Candidates don t lose marks for wrong answers, but they can t get a mark if they do not give any answer at all. 6. Throughout the Reading and Use of English paper, all answers must be spelt correctly. http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/footer/terms-and-conditions/ 3
Student s worksheet 1 For questions 9 16, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0). Write your answers IN CAPITAL LETTERS on the separate answer sheet. Example: 0 T H E Young enterprise How prepared are you for (0)... future? You are studying to obtain qualifications for your chosen career, but what (9)... getting the business skills necessary to make your career a success? How do you gain the advantage that will get you your dream job? Perhaps you even have an ambition to set (10)... a business yourself? Every year since it started, hundreds of thousands of young people have got themselves a head start while they are still at school by taking part in a Young Enterprise programme. There, they have gained key business skills and knowledge, either through a series of workshops (11)... through starting and running their own real company. At Young Enterprise we believe that it is important for learning to (12)... fun, exciting and hands-on, which is (13)... our programmes are run on the principle of learning by doing. To participate in a programme, your first step is to consult your school. If it has (14)... already done so, your school will need to become a centre. It can register as (15)... of these by contacting the nearest Young Enterprise office. Once it (16)... done this, you can get started! http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/footer/terms-and-conditions/ 4
Student s worksheet 2 BE ONE UP OR ABOUT NOT HAS WHY Student s worksheet 3 Look at the following sentences and decide whether the information is true or false. 1. You should start filling in the gaps immediately. 2. There are 10 gaps for you to fill. 3. On the answer sheet, you have to write the missing word in CAPITAL letters. 4. If there are two possible answers, you have to write down both words on the answer sheet. 5. You must always put a word in the gap. 6. You do not have to spell the answer correctly. http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/footer/terms-and-conditions/ 5