Task 1
Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.
Rats are really social animals, forming large groups in the wild. Colonies can be made up of around 150 individuals, of all different ages, so there are lots of opportunities for a rat to have a varied social life!
Life in a rat colony is full of friendly social interactions. Rats might show affection by greeting one another with a friendly sniff or nose-touch, or by grooming one another. Younger rats have even been known to play-fight! We also know that rats can recognise each other by their smell, can tell which rats they’re more closely related to and can even read each other’s facial expressions. Domesticated rats are no different to their wild cousins when it comes to being social! For example, rats will share food with one another and will give even more food to a rat who is hungry.
Task 2
Study the advertisement.
Battle of the best coders!
You are considering taking part in this coding competition and now you’d like to get more information. In 1.5 minutes you are to ask four direct questions to find out about the following:
- location
- participation fee
- number of rounds or challenges
- competition format
You have 20 seconds to ask each question.
Suggested answers
- Where does the coding competition take place?
- How much is the participation fee?
- How many rounds or challenges does the competition have?
- What is the format of the competition?
Task 3
You are going to give an interview. You have to answer five questions. Give full answers to the questions (2–3 sentences). Remember that you have 40 seconds to answer each question.
Task 3 Audio
Tapescript for Task 3
Suggested answers
Interviewer: Hello everybody! It’s Teenagers Round the World Channel. Our guest today is a teenager from Russia and we are going to discuss teenagers’ social media habits. We’d like to know our guest’s point of view on this issue. Please answer five questions. So, let’s get started.
Interviewer: What do you like doing on social media?
Student: I enjoy staying in touch with my friends and family on social media. I also like sharing photos, watching funny videos, and reading interesting posts.
Interviewer: How do you and your friends connect on social media?
Student: We send each other messages, funny videos, and pictures. Sometimes, we comment on each other’s posts. It’s a fun way to stay in touch every day.
Interviewer: Do you think social media is a positive or negative influence on your generation? Why?
Student: I think social media can be both positive and negative for my generation. On the one hand, it helps us stay in touch with friends, learn new things, and share something. On the other hand, it can be distracting or make us feel stressed. It really depends on how we use it.
Interviewer: What do you do to stay safe and protect your privacy on social media?
Student: I try to be careful about what I share. I don’t post personal information, and I only accept friend requests from people I know. My accounts are private, and I check my settings to make sure only my friends can see my posts.
Interviewer: Would you ever like to take a break from social media? Why or why not?
Student: Yes, I think taking a break could be a good idea sometimes. Social media can be fun, but it also takes up a lot of time. A break would help me focus on other things and spend more time with people in real life.
Interviewer: Thank you very much for your interview.
Task 4
Imagine that you and your friend are doing a school project “Fitness opportunities”. You have found some photos to illustrate it but for technical reasons you cannot send them now. Leave a voice message to your friend explaining your choice of the photos and sharing some ideas about the project. In 2.5 minutes be ready to:
- explain the choice of the illustrations for the project by briefly describing them and noting the differences;
- mention the advantages (1–2) of the two places to do workouts;
- mention the disadvantages (1–2) of the two places to do workouts;
- express your opinion on the subject of the project – say which of the workout locations presented in the pictures you’d prefer and why.
You will speak for not more than 3 minutes (12–15 sentences). You have to talk continuously.
Suggested answer
Hi Alex, it’s me. I’ve found a couple of photos to illustrate our project on fitness opportunities. I’d like to tell you more about them.
The first one shows a typical gym setting with people using different types of equipment. The second one depicts two young people working out in a virtual gym. Both photos illustrate different options for people to stay fit – a traditional method of working out in a physical space and a newer and more innovative option of working out in an online gym.
Both traditional and online fitness options offer great benefits, which we could discuss in our project. For example, traditional gyms offer a wide range of equipment and social interaction, while exercising in an online gym provides more flexibility in terms of timing and location.
We could also include some downsides as well. Physical gyms can be very busy at peak hours and may require a membership fee to access their facilities. On the other hand, home workouts using online fitness technologies have limited equipment available.
Personally, I’d prefer to exercise at home in a virtual gym because it would allow me to have a workout that suits my schedule and preferences. (Besides, I could save time and money by not having to travel to the gym.)
That’s all for now. Let me know what you think about these photos for our project. Bye!