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GeneralStudents preparing for International ESOL naturally have questions about
what they will find in the test. Here are some frequently asked questions,
along with answers. We hope these will be useful to you and your students.
Some of the students who are now preparing for IESOL at Communicator level
may be familiar with the test at B1 Achiever. The basic structure of the test
remains the same but there are some features of the different parts which will
be new. These include:
– not all listening tasks are heard twice
– there are two writing parts
It is worth going through these FAQs in preparation for the test to help yourstudents know exactly what to expect as candidates.
IESOL candidates often ask about the pass grades and how they achieve
these. Pass and First Class Pass grades are available, and it is important for
candidates to perform to a sufficient standard in each section of the test.
Q Can I use a dictionary in the test?
A Yes, you can use an English–English dictionary, but not an electronic version.
Q How many different parts of the test are there?
A There are ten: Listening 1, 2, 3 and 4; Reading 1, 2, 3 and 4; Writing 1 and 2.
Q Do I have a time limit for each part of the test?
A The Listening Part will take 20 minutes. You have 2 hours and 10 minutes to completethe rest of the test.
Q Do I have to pass every part of the test?
A You have to pass in the Listening, Reading and Writing sections. You don’t have to
pass each separate part of these sections as long as the overall total for each section
is sufficient to pass.
Q What grades of pass are there?
A A Pass or a First Class Pass.
Listening
International ESOL candidates are sometimes concerned that they willhave trouble understanding strong regional accents. Stress that mostof the recordings are made by speakers with mostly neutral, standardBritish English accents. Another worry the candidates have is spellinganswers correctly. Tell them that unless a word is spelt out, they willnot be tested on correct spelling and if their answer can be understoodit will be accepted.
International English for Speakers of Other LanguagesTeacher’s Book 4 Communicator
Q Is all of the Listening part of the exam now recorded?
A Yes.
Q Do I hear many different accents?
A No. The accents are mostly standard British English. In conversations, there is one
male and one female speaker to help you know who is speaking.
Q Do I hear everything twice?
A No. Listening Parts 1, 2 and 3 are heard once only.
Q What happens if I spell answers incorrectly?
A If the examiner can understand your answer, that’s not a problem.
ReadingThe candidates are sometimes concerned that there may be more thanone correct multiple-choice option in reading tasks; tell them that therewill be only one correct answer to each question. Remind the candidatesto read the instructions very carefully before giving answers and not toexceed any given word limit.
Q Is there only one correct A, B, C or D answer to multiple-choice questions?
A Yes.
Q What happens if I write too many words in my answers in Reading Part 4?
A Your answer will not be allowed.You must use no more than five words maximum.
WritingThe candidates sometimes worry that they will not be able to writeenough or will write too much. Point out that there are word limitsin Parts 1 and 2 and explain why it is useful for the candidates tokeep to these.
Q How much do I have to write?
A Between 100 and 150 words in Writing Part 1 and between 150 and 200 words in
Writing Part 2.
Q What happens if I don’t write the correct number of words?
A If you write too few words, this is taken into account in the marking. If you write more
than required, you will probably make more mistakes and not give yourself time to
read it through and correct errors, so try and keep to the limit.
Listening Part 1You will hear eight short unfinished conversations. Choose the bestreply to continue the conversation. Put a circle round the letter of thebest reply. First, look at the example. You will hear the conversationsonce only. 23
Example
Speaker 1: Are you sure this one will fit into the room?
Speaker 2: It’s no bigger than the one we have now.
b No problem. I’ll do it for you this time.c You could have thought ahead.
d Don’t worry – no real harm done.
Listening Part 2You will hear three conversations. Listen to the conversations and answerthe questions below. Put a circle round the letter of the correct answer.You will hear each conversation once only. 24
Conversation 1
What are the two people discussing?
a Their differences in taste.
b The woman’s mature personality.c How to make life interesting.
d To make room for meeting friends.
What does the woman think of the man?
a He’s full of inspiration.
b He has a sparkling personality.
c He likes sitting around too much.
d He’s a bit unexciting.
Conversation 2
What is the relationship between the speakers?
a Husband and wife.
b Both teachers.
c Both cleaners.
d Mother and son.
What is the woman’s opinion about recycling?
a It won’t save the planet.
b It should be abandoned.
c It’s a worthwhile exercise.
d It’s always unhygienic.
International English for Speakers of Other LanguagesTeacher’s Book 4 Communicator
How does the woman react to the man’s suggestions?
a She’s not entirely convinced.
b She thinks his ideas are stupid.
c She doesn’t think he’s serious.
d She agrees wholeheartedly.
Listening Part 3Listen to the talk and complete the notes. Write short answers (1–5words). First, look at the notes. The first one is done for you. You willhear the talk once only. 25
Big Ben
Big Ben refers to: bell
1. Name can also refer to: the clock tower
2. Construction material at top: cast iron
3. Access to the top by: climbing stairs/steps
4. Tower’s vertical shift due to: ground condition changes
5. Age of Big Ben: 150 years
6. Country of largest four-faced clock: USA/America
Listening Part 4Listen to the conversation and answer the questions. Put a circle roundthe letter of the correct answer. First, look at the questions. The first oneis done for you. You will hear the conversation twice. 26
Example:
The speakers
a disagreed that they’d enjoyed themselves.
b agreed that they’d enjoyed themselves.
c both thought what they had seen was funny.
d both thought what they had seen was good.
1 Sue thinks success can be measured by
a the reaction of an audience.
b defining what success means.
c how much she enjoys something.
d judging people’s movements.
2 Sue thought the costumes were
a tasteful and authentic.
b tasteless but authentic.
c not typical of the seventies.
d not made of the right material.
3 Tony’s main criticism is that the production
a was not entertaining enough.
b had too many songs and dances.c had a soppy romantic plot.
d was not well thought out.
4 Sue’s reaction to Tony’s comments about the plot is that she
a doesn’t believe him.
b thinks he’s too critical.
c agrees with him.
d thinks he’s too complimentary.
5 Tony prefers plots that are
a to the point .
b down to earth.
c very romantic.d well-structured.
6 Tony and Sue
a have the same taste in entertainment.
b prefer the theatre to concerts.
c have different views on entertainment value.
d prefer classical to popular music.
International English for Speakers of Other LanguagesTeacher’s Book 4 Communicator
International English for Speakers of Other LanguagesTeacher’s Book 4 Communicator
202
Notes Reading Part 1Read the text and complete the tasks that follow. Choose a, b, c or d. Puta circle round the most appropriate answer. The first one is done for you.
Hundreds of rare sand lizards to be released
Hundreds of sand lizards are to be released into the wild as part
of an attempt to ensure the survival of threatened reptile and
amphibian species in Britain.
Lacerta agilis was once a common sight in dunes and on heathland.
Males were particularly distinctive, with their striking green flanks.
Over the past 100 years, however, the species disappeared in many
English counties, especially in the south, as housing development
destroyed habitats. Declines of up to 90 per cent were also seen in
parts of the north.
Conservationists estimate that there are now fewer than 300
locations in the country where they are still thriving. These remaining
colonies are mostly found on small fragmented areas of heath or
dune in isolated areas surrounded by woodlands.
In an attempt to restore Britain’s rarest lizard, the species is to be
re-introduced at five sites in the south. The first release of 80 baby
lizards, which have been reared in hatcheries, is to take place today
at a nature reserve in Surrey. The breeders have had to minimise
contact with the animals to prevent them becoming too tame, which
would leave them at risk of being eaten by their main enemy, the
smooth snake, another threatened species. During the next two weeks
320 more lizards are also to be introduced on other nature reserves.
Native frogs, toads, newts and snakes have also suffered decline due
to intensive farming practices. A spokesman for Amphibian and
Reptile Conservation (ARC) said, ‘These lizards needed channels of
sand to lay eggs and without them could not survive. The problem
was really down to ignorance, and people were not aware how best
to manage these habitats and allow development on dunes and
heathland.’ Nick Moulton, who is co-ordinating the releases for ARC,
said, ‘It is great to see them going back, now safely protected wherethey belong.’
ARC, which was formed by a merger of the charities Froglife and the
Herpetological Conservation Trust, has a three-year partnership to
release threatened species with Natural England, the Government’s
wildlife advisers. Tom Tew, chief scientist at Natural England, said,
‘Reptiles and amphibians are coming under pressure from an
increasing number of factors, including habitat loss and disease. This
important re-introduction programme is an example of the action
that is being taken to reverse the decline in England’s biodiversity
and to conserve the habitats that our unique wildlife relies on.’
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204
Notes Reading Part 2Read the text and fill the gaps with the sentences A–H. Write the letter ofthe missing sentence in the box in the correct gap. There are two extrasentences you will not need.
People’s chef
Is Jamie Oliver a national treasure? This young exuberant chef, who left
school without any academic qualifications, burst onto British TV screens
a decade ago. He was bubbling with enthusiasm, but perhaps a little
annoying.
1 Maybe this was because he seemed too much of a do-gooder: the
golden boy, who liked to visit his grandma and spoke readily of his love for
his wife, Jools. 2 This is probably thanks to his willingness to receive
sponsorship from one of Britain’s leading supermarket chains, and his
unwillingness to cook with food not locally and organically sourced.
3 He has recently officially become Britain’s bestselling author. He has
defeated not only the literary efforts of authors such as Khaled Hosseini and
JK Rowling, but has also outsold those of his fellow celebrity chefs. 4
More than a mere celebrity chef, he has become the ‘Chosen One’. He
holds meetings with the Prime Minister. He changes supermarket policy.He cooks for heads of state and Hollywood stars. 5 He has his own
magazine, a website, a blog, and his shows are broadcast in many
countries overseas.
Oliver might still have his critics, but it appears they are seriously
outnumbered these days. 6 He is a chef who is on our side, who has
used his position of power to expose injustices and to educate. He is a man
who surely has the makings of a proper national treasure for the UK.
A He has been criticised too for being both a hypocrite and a food snob.B In truth, there have been times when people really disliked Jamie Oliver.
C Jamie Oliver has not so far regained his popularity over time.
D Oliver still can’t compete with other celebrities.
E At last, a majority has come to recognise that he is one of the good guys.
F Oliver is now, without doubt, the country’s leading ‘foodie’.
G Sales of Oliver’s latest cookbook appear to point to his return to favour.
H Today, Jamie Oliver’s media influence is far-reaching.
NotesReading Part 3Read the four texts below. There are ten questions about the texts. Decidewhich text A, B, C or D tells you the answer to the question. The first oneis done for you.
A
Volunteers from Swindon spend prize money to help wildlife.Not only did they work hard to earn their Quality of Life Award, but adedicated group of Swindon conservation volunteers has worked just ashard to spend their prize money helping wildlife. In particular, they arehoping to invest in a new bee-keeping scheme to help the declining localbee community. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact
www.witshirewildlife.org. There will also be an interesting talk on makinghoney in Swindon on Friday 27th and honey tasting to follow.
B
Blakehill Conservation Volunteers – Conservation TaskWasteland – Cricklade – 10am–4pm Sun 22, Mon 23 and Tue 24Birds of Maryland and Coffee – Illustrated TalkThe Memorial Hall, Station Road, Wootton Bassett – 7.30pm Wed 25Smallbrook Meadows Conservation Volunteers – Conservation TaskWarminster – 10am–3pm Thu 26A Year in the Life of Bee – TalkWesley Hall, Pewsey – 7.30pm Fri 27Jones's Mill Conservation Volunteers – Conservation TaskNew breeds, Pewsey – 10am–12.30pm Sat 28
C
I’m writing to say that we all very much enjoyed your excellent talk abouta year in the life of the bee. So much so that I would like some informationabout volunteering and training courses on keeping bees. I’d appreciate itif you could let me know of any associations locally where I could do some
voluntary work. I’m afraid I couldn’t stay to speak to you after the talk onFriday. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
NotesReading Part 4Read the text and answer the questions. Write a maximum of five wordsfor each answer. An example is done for you.
High-speed rail in Spain
Ana Portet had an unusual commute to work today. At half-seven in
the morning she popped down to Sants railway station in Barcelona.
At half-ten she was in a meeting with colleagues from her firm, 315
miles away in Madrid.
‘I'll be back in Barcelona by half five,’ she said, as her early afternoon
bullet train flew back along the new high-speed tracks at up to 210mph.
‘It’s so quick, sometimes you’re there before you’ve even noticed.’Portet is one of hundreds of thousands of travellers who have migrated
from the world’s busiest air shuttle, linking Madrid and Barcelona, to
what is now Spain’s most popular train, the high-speed AVE.
The AVE delivers its passengers to the heart of Barcelona in just two
hours and thirty minutes. With Madrid’s station a short walk from
the Prado museum, the journey is from one city centre to another.
Furthermore, the high-speed train does this in a punctual,
problem-free, elegant style. High-speed trains pulled by aerodynamic
engines with noses shaped like a duck-billed platypus are grounding
aircraft across Spain. The year-old Barcelona-Madrid line has already
taken 46% of the traffic – stealing most of it from fuel-guzzling,
carbon-emitting aircraft. As the high-speed rail network spreads a
web of tracks across Spain, it threatens to relegate domestic air
travel to a distant second place.
A high-speed network is not designed overnight. Spain’s AVE story
started in the 1980s, when the Prime Minister commissioned a line
between Madrid and Seville. The project was greeted with a certain
amount of scorn. Why was sleepy Seville getting the line and not busy
Barcelona? Some saw it as an expensive white elephant. The line,
however, was a spectacular success. Remote Seville was suddenly
two-and-a-half hours from Madrid.
Previously, the choice on the Madrid–Seville run was between a hot,tiring six-hour coach journey or a flight often subject to delay.Seventeen years later, only one traveller in ten takes the plane to
Seville. Nearly all the rest go by a train that is 99% punctual. TheSeville line proved high-speed trains could be the answer to someof Spain’s most enduring problems. A country almost two-and-a-half
times the size of Britain, it is traversed by mountain ranges and widerivers that act as barriers to communication. EU funds were used tohelp railways bulldoze their way through. Spain’s vast open spaces
and fuss-free approach to planning meant a high-speed network
NotesWriting Part 2Write a letter to your friend describing a memorable, important ordifficult journey you have had. Talk about your reasons for taking the journey, what happened and how you felt about it. Write between 150and 200 words.
Male voice 1 ‘Part 2. Part 2. You will hear three conversations. Listen to the
conversations and answer the questions below. Put a circle round the letter of
the correct answer. You will hear each conversation once only. Look at the
questions for Conversation 1.’
M1 ‘Conversation 1’
Female voice ‘Ooh – this is nice – very cheerful!’
Male voice 2 ‘You are joking?! It would probably be lovely in a nursery – but it’s
hardly suitable for sophisticated, mature adults like us who wish to entertain
their friends!’
F ‘I suppose you’d like something brown and cream and boring to sit and stare at.’
M2 ‘No, no – not at all – just plain – no patterns. I had in mind something thatreflects our personalities – you know – chic, classy, that sort of thing.’
F ‘But that’s so dreary – and all the walls are plain now – I thought we could have a
change – brighten up our lives a bit.’
M2 ‘Umm – excuse me! Are you suggesting I need livening up a bit?’
F ‘Well, now you come to mention it...’
M1 ‘Now look at the questions for Conversation 2. Conversation 2’
F ‘Well, if we could discuss something else before we end, I’d like to suggest we stop
trying to recycle everything and go back to collecting rubbish the way we did before.’
M2 ‘Why on earth would you want us to do that?’
F ‘There’s uncollected rubbish everywhere – the place is a real mess, since we asked the
children to sort out their rubbish and put it in different bins.’
M2 ‘I agree there’s a problem, but if we as professionals can’t educate the
children, then who will? I assume you do believe in saving the planet.’
F ‘Of course I do. And I recycle everything at home. But here we’re risking unhygienic
surroundings.’
M2 ‘So perhaps we could try to improve the current system, rather than abandon
it totally?’
F ‘If you really think that’s viable, I suppose I’d consider it…yes…’
M1 ‘Now look at the questions for Conversation 3. Conversation 3’
M2 ‘Ah – this is the life! Sun, sand and sea. What more could anyone want?’
F ‘Well... perhaps a little breeze might be nice.’
M2 ‘Seriously? I think this is ideal – doesn’t the heat suit you?’
F ‘Yes, well, no, well I mean, it is lovely to be warm, but you can have too much of a good
thing, and I think this may be a few degrees above what’s comfortable for me.’
M2 ‘Why not ask that nice waiter for some more ice with that, then. That’d help.’F ‘Mmm – OK. I will. Though I’m not sure it’ll work. A nice cold shower might be better.’
M2 ‘Brrr – sounds horrendous. You can have one when we get back to the hotel,
of course, but I thought we could pop down for a dip later on– that’d be
better.’
F ‘Mmm – that might be good, though in this heat it’ll be more like taking a warm bath.’
M1 ‘That is the end of Part 2.’
International English for Speakers of Other LanguagesTeacher’s Book 4 Communicator
Male voice 1 ‘Part 3. Part 3. Listen to the talk, and complete the notes. Write
short answers (1–5 words). First, look at the notes. The first one is done for
you. You will hear the talk once only.’
Male voice 2 ‘Big Ben is really the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the Palace of
Westminster in London, although it’s often used to refer to the clock tower too. The
sixty-one metres at the bottom of the Clock Tower are of brickwork with a sand
coloured limestone cladding. The rest of the tower is a framed spire of cast iron. Its
foundations are on a fifteen-metre square raft, made of concrete three-metres thick,
going down four metres below ground level. And the four clock faces are fifty-five
metres above ground.
Despite being one of the world's most famous tourist attractions, the interior of thetower is not open to the general public for security reasons, although from time to
time press and other VIPs are granted access. However, the tower has no elevator,
so people going in have to climb the three hundred and thirty four limestone steps to
the top.
In actual fact, the tower leans slightly to the north-west because of changes in ground
conditions since it was built. More recently, tunnelling for the Jubilee underground line
extension has had its effect. As a result of thermal conditions it also oscillates annually
by a few millimetres east and west.
Big Ben is the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world. It’s also the third-tallest
free-standing clock tower. It celebrated recently its one hundred and fiftieth
anniversary in May two thousand and nine. There were some special commemorative
events. The clock faces are large enough to have once made the Clock Tower the
largest four-faced clock in the world, but now the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower in
Milwaukee, USA, holds that distinction. But the builders of the Allen-Bradley Clock
Tower didn’t add chimes to the clock, so the Great Clock of Westminster still holds the
title of the ‘world's largest four-faced chiming clock’.
The clock is famously reliable. The idiomatic expression of ‘to put a penny on’, meaning
to slow down, originated from the method of fine-tuning the clock's pendulum. On top
of the pendulum is a small stack of old penny coins; used to adjust the time of the
clock. Adding or subtracting coins has the effect of minutely altering the position of the
pendulum's centre of mass, and hence the rate at which the pendulum swings. Adding
or removing a penny changes the clock's speed by just nought point four seconds per
day. During World War Two, the Palace of Westminster was hit by bombs. On the tenth
of May nineteen forty-one, a bomb damaged two of the clock faces and sections of the
tower's roof, as well as destroying the House of Commons chamber. Architect Sir GilesGilbert Scott designed a new five-floor block. Two floors are occupied by the current
chamber which was used for the first time on the twenty-sixth of October nineteen fifty.
Despite the heavy bombing the clock continued to run accurately and chimed
Male voice 1 ‘Part 4. Part 4. Listen to the conversation and answer the questions.
Put a circle round the letter of the correct answer. First, look at the questions.
The first one is done for you. You will hear the conversation twice.’
Female voice ‘Mmm – that was fun, wasn’t it?’
Male voice 2 ‘Well, fun… yes, I suppose so. I have to admit that I did enjoy
myself, but I wouldn’t actually say it was good, Sue, would you?’
F ‘Ah – well, that depends on your definition of ‘good’, Tony. I had a good time, and,
judging by the foot tapping all the way through and the applause at the end, so did
everybody else, so surely that’s a reasonable measure of success.’
M2 ‘Well, on that basis, yes. But some people are very easily pleased, or just get
carried away by the general atmosphere. That doesn’t mean that merits
praise though, does it?’
F ‘Oh Tony! You’re so serious! We’re not talking about a Shakespearean play or a
Wagnerian opera here.’
M2 ‘No, no I know that... but just because it’s popular entertainment doesn’t
mean it’s ok for it to be tacky!’
F ‘Tacky?! What are you on about?’
M2 ‘Well, those costumes, for a start – I mean all that lycra – it was gross!’
F ‘Yes, it was, but that’s what people wore in the seventies. You might not like it but it
wouldn’t be true to life to choose modern costumes that we think are chic and
sophisticated, now would it?’
M2 ‘Oh – I know what you’re saying, but my point is that pure seventies tackiness might
make for a reasonable evening’s entertainment, but whoever put this stuff together
could’ve done a far better job and produced something really worthwhile, not justcobbled together songs and dances and a soppy romantic plot.’
F ‘A what? You’re unbelievable! You are so, so cynical. It was fine! There’s nothing wrong
with a bit of love interest!’
M2 ‘Now that’s not what I meant. You know full well I like a good romance as
much as anyone – but this just wasn’t very good. I couldn’t really believe in it,
there was no beginning and end, just filling gaps between songs.’
F ‘OK, well that’s different. Yes, I’ll grant you that. But I’m looking at this as pure
entertainment, which I reckon it does a pretty well at, and I love the music, so I couldn’t
care less how it’s stitched together… you seem to want a literary masterpiece.’
M2 ‘Well, not quite that – but I did expect something more like a play than a
concert, if you like. Then it would have appealed to me more. I want something
to challenge me when I go out, something to make me think, enrich my life…’
F ‘Well, I know you generally prefer straight theatre to popular music, so I can see whereyou’re coming from, but I’m not so concerned if it’s not a perfect production.’
M2 ‘So you agree it was thrown together a bit carelessly, then?’
F ‘Well…OK…But I think the show’s a success because it doesn’t try to be anything
other than popular entertainment. Part of its success is probably the fact that the
producers have the confidence to recognise this and don’t take it too seriously.’
M2 ‘So you are of the same mind as me, really, then?’
International English for Speakers of Other LanguagesTeacher’s Book 4 Communicator