SESSION 1:
THE OPINION ESSAY
It seems that in question 5 of the English EVAU test you will have to or either give your opinion about a certain topic or give arguments in favor or against a particular position. This question aims to test your writing skills, your ability to express your own ideas in a written form, which implies more than being grammatical or using the right spelling, it asks for maturity, order, coherence and creativity.
Here you have an example of an opinion essay. Check how ideas are divided into paragraphs, the content of the introduction and the conclusion and the use of linkers.
PARAGRAPH PLAN:
KEY VOCAB:
WATCH THIS VIDEO FOR MORE INFORMATION:
SESSION 2:
EVAU TEST QUESTION 4
Although the EVAU test is typically a reading comprehension exercise there is, how could it not?, a place for grammar. During the year you will see many of the structures aimed at in this part. So, you will have to prove you can use a wide range of them and either fill in the gaps, end up or rephrase sentences where they are used. Here I have collected different questions 4 from the last years.
1. Download the file and do the exercises in your notebook.
REPHRASE-IT
Something that can help you master grammar and structures in general is rephrasing exercises.
In this type of exercise, you need to read the first sentence in each question. From this you need to look at the second sentence and think about what information is missing. You must then complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first with 2-5 words (NO MORE).
I haven´t got a clue about all of the facts.
I _____________________ and every one of the facts.
Another thing to understand is that you are provided with a word that you must use in exactly the same form (if it is TOLD, you cannot use tell, telling or any variation of the word. ONLY TOLD).
I haven´t got a clue about all of the facts. (AWARE)
I _____________________ and every one of the facts.
What they assess in this part of the exam is as follows:
Lexical: phrasal verbs, word patterns, fixed expressions, contextual vocabulary etc.
Structural: passive, relative clauses, reported speech, quantifiers, connectors, tense changes, gerund versus infinitive, modal verbs, inversions (rarely), conditionals etc.
Try the Deleting Technique: You take the sentence transformation, for example:
I haven´t got a clue about all of the facts. (AWARE)
I _____________________ and every one of the facts.
YOU MUST CONSIDER WHAT IS THE SAME IN BOTH SENTENCES AND THEN DELETE WHAT IS THE SAME IN THE FIRST SENTENCE: " I", "not" & "the facts"
1. I.......not......................................................................the facts.
2. Complete the rest of the sentences following the steps mentioned above:
2. Have you come up with any new ideas yet? (OF)
Have you _________________ ideas yet?
3. Who is to blame for what happened yesterday? (FAULT)
Whose ________________ happened yesterday?
4. It is said that there is likely to be another world war soon. (WILL)
Everyone ______________________ be another world war in no time.
5. We were impeded from passing the exam by his awful teaching technique. (PREVENTED)
His awful teaching technique ____________________exam.
6. I find it difficult to get the grasp of phrasal verbs. (ME)
Phrasal verbs __________________ to get the grasp of.
7. I found a $50 note on the floor last night coincidently. (ACROSS)
I ________________ a $50 note on the ground last night.
8. All garbage should be put in the blue bins out front. (AWAY)
People __________________ all their garbage in the bins out front.
9. Something has gone wrong with my phone and the screen freezes. (WORK)
My phone _______________ well and the screen keeps freezing.
10. I don´t know which drink I am going to choose. (FOR)
I can´t decide which drink I am going _____________.
SESSION 3:
Austerity is a term commonly used to explain the condition of living without unnecessary things and without comfort, with limited money or goods BUT we have probably listened to it very often thanks to the economic crisis we have lived in this...really?... already a decade! The austerity policy has to do with sustained reductions in public spending and tax rises. The pandemic is already having devastating consequences in the world's economy, even Saudi Arabia has decided to take measures to fight the effects of this recession. Saudi Arabia used to be a good example of excess, so austerity never seemed to get into their plans.
Read the following article and do the exercises below:
"Saudi Arabia is going to triple the rate of the value added tax (VAT) it imposes on goods and services. VAT will increase from 5 per cent to 15 per cent on the 1st of July. The tax was introduced in Saudi Arabia for the first time in 2018. Government authorities say this drastic measure is necessary to curb the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy. The cut is also part of wider austerity measures to help the economy. Finances of the oil-rich nation have been badly hit as the pandemic has seen oil prices and demand for oil plummet. Analysts are reporting that oil revenues this year have fallen by almost a quarter when compared to the same period last year.
Another measure the finance ministry has taken in a bid to shore up the economy is the suspension of a cost of living allowance. This is a payment of about $256 per month to state employees. It was introduced to help offset rising prices and more expensive petrol at the pump. Saudi's Finance Minister said: "These measures are painful but necessary to maintain financial and economic stability over the medium to long term...and to overcome the unprecedented coronavirus crisis with the least damage possible." A Gulf expert said: "The move will impact consumption and could also lower the expected revenues. These are pro-austerity and pro-revenue moves rather than pro-growth ones."
1. Match words and definitions:
2. Answer the questions:
3. Find a synonym for the following words:
attempt, actions, income, extreme, affect, applies, unheard of,
nosedive, established, counterbalance
imposes
introduced
drastic
measures
plummet
bid
offset
unprecedented
impact
revenue
SESSION 4:
Whatever the situation might be, it takes at least two for an interview, the interviewer and the interviewee. The interviewer will try to put interviewee at ease while the interviewee will try to appear confident. The interviewer usually asks questions and the interviewee responds providing information which may be used with different purposes, for example, a job interview or an interview with a witness.
1. Listen to Maddie, our assistant, who will dive into this communication process and answer the questions below.
How did Maddie define an interview?
What do we call the person who is being asked questions? and how is this spelt?
What are the five types of interviews?
What is the difference between an interview and a conversation?
2. Watch a few minutes of this interview below by Vogue called ‘73 questions with Serena Williams’. While you are watching note down at least 5 of the questions with their answer in the exact format you hear them . After watching the video turn what you have written into reported speech (eg the interviewer asked Serena who her childhood crush was when she was 13; Serena said that she loved the guys in Criss Cross)
FOR HOME:
Now read this printed interview (above) up until ‘Please leave me alone’ (13th paragraph) in Evening Standard and answer the following questions:
1. Who is being interviewed and what film is it in advance of?
2. This is not a direct transcription (=a word for word written version) of an in-person interview. How is it different? (Hint: is it all direct speech?)
3. What day did the film release?
4. Where did the interviewee grow up?
5. What BBC teenage drama launched her career?
6. What did she find hard about the move to LA and the acting business over there?
7. What is the purpose of this interview (and how does it contrast the Vogue interviewer we watched)?
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