Підручник Англійська мова 9 клас (9-й рік навчання) - О. C. Любченко - Основа 2017 рік

APPENDIX

Exam tips

Reading comprehension implies understanding the meaning of a given article or a short passage.

There are some simple methods that you can use to get more out of your reading time. You will improve your understanding if you "preview" the passage before you actually read every word.

To do this:

- take 30 to 60 seconds for previewing

- look over the title

- look at all the headings, subheadings and marked, italic or dark print

- look at any pictures or illustrations

- skim over the passage, read the first and last paragraph and look at the first sentence of every other paragraph

- close the text and ask yourself

- What is the main idea?

- What kind of writing is it?

- What is the author's purpose?

If you do the preview correctly, you may have some very good general ideas. Then, you will be able to understand the passage better.

When you finally get to reading the passage, read in a "questioning" manner - as if you were searching for something.

It sometimes helps if you take the title of a chapter and turn it into a question. Then, you have a goal; something to find out. When you have a goal, you are more likely to reach it.

Try to read in phrases of three or four words, especially in complete clauses and prepositional phrases.

Don't keep re-reading the same phrases.

Here are some more tips to help for taking a reading test.

Read Instructions Carefully

Always be extra careful when reading the instructions. You may miss or even misunderstand important points. For example, if you are asked for antonyms or synonyms for a particular word that is in the passage, then consider the context first. Sometimes, an answer may seem familiar because it is the correct response to a different question. In addition, if you are instructed to mark your answers in a particular way, failure to do so may cost you credit for a correct answer.

Never Use Outside Knowledge

When provided with a test passage, read it carefully. When you are ready to answer the questions, do not use outside knowledge in selecting or formulating your answer. Always answer based only on what is in the passage. Any answer that cannot be supported with information written or implied in the passage should be eliminated.

Make Strategic Guesses

Make a habit of reading the choices that are provided to you before answering the questions to be sure you aren't fooled by nearly correct choices. If you are unsure of the answer, eliminate any answers that you are certain are incorrect, and then select your answer from the remaining choices. If time permits, try to answer all the questions, and then later on eliminate the ones you aren’t sure of.

Read the Questions First

Whenever you are given a passage to read followed by several questions to be answered, always read the questions first. By doing this, you are well aware of what to look for in the passage when you read.

This helps you focus your attention on important words and phrases, allowing you to skim, rather than having to read every word. Also, you can put marks in the passage lightly when you see one of those terms, making it easy to find when you're ready to check your answer. If you first read the passage and then go on to read the questions, it often becomes necessary to search through the passage more and more.

Manage your time properly

It is no use wasting time over the questions that seem to be unclear or where you are doubtful. Remember - your time is limited, so don’t get stuck with a single question but move on. Do the answers you are sure of first - and you will have enough time to get back and revise the more difficult ones.

Be aware of what you are being asked

Identify the types of questions. Various types of questions relate to various areas of reading comprehension being checked.

a) If a question refers to the main idea or the gist of the passage, first skim the text for the first sentences of each paragraph because it is normally there that you can find the key ideas. Most often it is enough to make a choice of the answers provided.

b) True / False questions usually refer to certain sentences or parts of sentences.

Every part of a true sentence must be "true". If any one part of the sentence is false, the whole sentence is false despite many other true statements.

Pay close attention to negatives, qualifiers, absolutes, and long strings of statements.

Negatives can be confusing. If the question contains negatives, as "no, not, cannot" drop the negative and read what remains. Decide whether that sentence is true or false. If it is true, its opposite, or negative, is usually false.

Qualifiers are words that restrict or open up general statements. Words like "sometimes, often, frequently, ordinarily, generally" open up the possibilities of making accurate statements. They are more likely to reflect reality, and usually indicate "true" answers.

Absolute words restrict possibilities. "No, never, none, always, every, entirely, only" imply the statement must be true 100% of the time and usually indicate "false" answers.

Long sentences often include groups of words set off by punctuation. Pay attention to the "truth" of each of these phrases. If one is false, it usually indicates a "false" answer.

c) Answering questions on vocabulary requires understanding the meanings of the words or phrases in context. Scan the text for the word or phrase being questioned, read the sentence with it carefully and decide which of the suggested options best fits this particular sentence.

Answering questions about details scan the text for the word, phrase or idea given in the question. Remember - both the question and the suggested answers most often may be restatements of what was said in the passage, that is why be very careful if you see an option that directly repeats the passage - it is most probably a catch.

d) Matching questions normally refer to finding appropriate titles for paragraphs from the choices provided. As the title is something that expresses the main idea of a paragraph, it will not be a bad idea to read the first sentence of the paragraph to understand the idea of it and then look through the provided matches to find out which of them corresponds to that idea.

e) Filling in the gaps requires more understanding of the sentence structure, so first read the sentence with the gap carefully and find where the subject and the verb of the sentence are. Thus you will see the person and the grammar tense. Then find out the relationship between the subject and the verb and other words or phrases in the sentence - in this way it will be easier to identify what part of the sentence is missing and then see which of the options best fits the gap.

Review Answer Sheets

After you are finished with the questions, review your paper at least twice to check for recording errors. This will help you correct your answers or reframe your sentences, if necessary. Reviewing is important in cases of multiple choice questions to be sure you don't skip questions or record your answers in the wrong space. You should always review and go back to the sections where you had doubts.

Adapted and extended from http://classrooni.synonyni.com

HOW TO WRITE LETTERS

INFORMAL LETTERS

These are personal letters written in a friendly tone. This is why the style is more relaxed and free.

Heading

The heading usually consists of the writer’s full postal address and the date to inform the reader where the letter was written and when.

It usually goes in the top right-hand corner of the first page. The date is given below the heading. Don’t write your name here.

Important! In British and American English dates are written in different ways.

The British first put the date, then the month, then the year.

For example, 12.05.2017 means 12 ^th May 2017 to British people.

The Americans first put the month, then the date, then the year.

For example, 12.05.2017 means 5 ^th December 2017 to American people.

Make sure you keep this in mind when you know if it is a Brit or an American you are writing to.

Greeting

The form of greeting depends upon the relationship between the writer and the reader of the letter.

It is normally accepted to start the letter with «Dear…» in both formal and informal writing.

In informal letters we normally use the person’s first name:

Dear Susan,

Dear Sam,

Pay attention that greetings normally end with a comma, and the letter itself starts on the next line from a capital letter.

Body

This is a letter itself.

It is not a bad idea to start your letter with a sentence that refers to your recent conversation or writing - to say Thank you for the letter, occasion or activity, and then move on to what you actually want to say.

Make sure that if you wish to speak about a few ideas, each of the ideas should be covered in a separate paragraph. Don’t be messy putting all your ideas together - the letter will be difficult to read and understand then.

The way we put up paragraphs is the same that we do writing essays or compositions.

Start each paragraph with a sentence, in which you clearly state what you want to say and use the following sentences to explain and support your idea. Finish the paragraph with giving the same idea but put in different words.

Ending

After you have finished your letter, it is a good style to end it politely.

Indicate your wish for further communication,

For example: Hope to hear from you soon; See you shortly, etc. - for informal letters.

Then sign out with a proper phrase. For informal letters, the endings may be friendly and relaxed.

For example: Take care; Best regards; Love; Your, and write your first name on the next line.

FORMAL LETTERS

The overall format of a formal letter is the same as that of an informal one. However, the tone of formal letters is much more official.

Greeting and signing off

Formal letters are usually written to people that we don’t know. That is why, the form of addressing people is different.

We also start our greeting with «Dear…» but the way we put the name of the person we are writing to is different.

Pay attention:

We do not use the person’s last / family name after Sir or Madam.

We do use the person’s last / family name after Mr / Miss / Mrs / Ms / Dr.

Addressing a woman we use:

Miss - if we know that the woman is not married Mrs - if we know that the woman is married Ms - if we are uncertain about her status.

We do use the title Dr before the person’s name (no matter - a man or a woman) if the person has a Doctor’s degree.

Important! The formal writing style does not allow contractions (don’t, isn’t, etc.) - only full forms (do not, is not, etc.)

HOW TO WRITE EMAILS

Emails differ from regular letter in the way they are much shorter and mostly informal, which defines the style. Be very clear and explain your ideas in as few words as possible - don’t be wasting your reader’s time!

Start with a salutation

Although the email style is much more democratic, it is good to start your email with addressing the person you’re writing to even if you are writing to a friend - it’s always better to be polite.

Write in short paragraphs

Get straight to the point - don’t waste time. Split your email into two to four short paragraphs, each one dealing with a single idea.

Stick to one topic

Don’t jumble different ideas in one letter, remember - emails are supposed to be answered promptly, so be consistent.

Use capitals appropriately

Emails should follow the same rules of punctuation as other writing.

Never write a whole sentence (or worse, a whole email) in capital letters - it just makes reading difficult, and your reader will hardly be pleased about it.

Don’t overuse shortenings or leet.

Shortenings, acronyms or leet (the acronymic texting language like LOL instead of laughing out loud, 2U instead of to you is good for SMS or instant messaging. Don’t use it in emails.

Sign off politely

Even when writing to people you know well, it’s polite to sign off with something such as «All the best,» «Take care,» or «Have a nice day,» and then put your name. Remember - just like in regular letters, the name should be put on the next line after signing off.

  HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY

Emails differ from regular letter in the way they are much shorter and mostly informal, which defines the style. Be very clear and explain your ideas in as few words as possible - don’t be wasting your reader’s time!

- Introduction Paragraph - introduces the reader to the topic and makes them interested in further reading. For this, the introduction should include:

✵ an attention-grabber: a rhetoric question; some statistics; a joke, etc.

✵ a main idea statement - indicate what you are going to talk about in general

✵ a preview of the three subtopics you will discuss if any - outline the ideas that will help discuss the general topic.

Body - it actually discusses the topic and gives arguments for your opinion. The number of paragraphs here depends on the number of issues you are going to talk about. Let’s consider a one- paragraph body.

- Body Paragraph starts with a Topic sentence which states your idea / opinion.

The following sentences give supporting details or examples. The last sentence summarises the paragraph by explaining of how these examples prove your point of view.

It is absolutely necessary to use opening and linking phrases between the ideas and examples.

- Conclusion - gives the restatement of the main idea by rephrasing the main topic and offers a summary statement or call to action.

HOW TO WRITE ADS

A public announcement is a message spread in the interest of the public. These messages can be instructional, inspirational, or even shocking to bring up emotion and action. You can write effective ads if you follow a few simple steps

1. Catch your reader's attention. Choose a great headline.

2. Create interest. After you've created a headline you will have to get your audience interested in what you are offering. One rule of thumb often used is "what's in it for me?"

3. Create desire. Once you have created a relationship between your reader create the ad that will cause them to desire more information.

4. Call to action! Now is the time to tell them what Action you want them to take to. It could be making a phone call, clicking on a website link, etc. Be specific!

5. Contact me! Include all the necessary information in your ads: name, all contact info - website, phone, fax, address, logo.

6. Check your advert for errors.

Be Social: talk «with» people, not «at» them.

Organization: every speech should have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Structure your talk so that the audience knows what to expect.

Make a «catch» to capture the audience’s attention with something that causes them to question, laugh, or be surprised.

People usually remember 3 things from any given talk. So, give your audience 3 main points repeated in the Introduction, Body and Conclusion.

Language: use opening and linking phrases, make your talk emotional by using synonyms and figurative language.

Think of yourself as sharing in a dialogue with a group of friends.

10-Second Rule: take a deep breath, wait a few seconds and begin. This gives the speaker an opportunity to get prepared and shows the audience you’re confident and controlling the situation.

Avoid Fillers: words such as "basically", "well", and "um" don't add anything to your speech. Better be silent when you feel you want to use one of these words

Practice listening to something every day.

When listening, listen NOT to words but to phrases and sentences.

Do not worry if there is a word you do not understand - catch the main idea of the sentence.

Try and anticipate what the speaker will say.

Practice taking notes - note down key words or phrases from what you hear - that will help you reconstruct the general meaning.

Listen for repeated information - very often the same ideas are given in different words. (This as well works for multiple choice or True / False questions.)

Look for clues. If you can predict the sort of things you are going to listen for, you can reduce the amount you need to listen to.

Look for any tables, charts or illustrations - these often give you a good idea of what the text is going to be about.

Listen for the specific information you want.

Predict. If you have to answer questions on what you are listening to, try to predict the possible answer by first looking at the question. Don’t try to listen to the whole text then - just search for the answers.

The same works well if you have multiple choice answers - by reading them you can predict what the question will be about and purposefully listen for the correct answer.

Moreover, by reading questions (or possible answers) before actually listening, you can get the whole idea of what the text is about.