A taste of April's challenges. Who's in for a medal?

Complete each of the empty spaces with one (different) word so as to complete the meaning of those six colloquial expressions. Then, explain their meaning! One medal for the first to come up with all the correct answers!

A) People from New York are supposed to be the salt of the . Is that how they came across to you?

B) Eddie has a of gold and would give you his last penny if you needed it.

C) I don't know what's the matter with you lately. You've always got such a quick .

D) I know Dad's always moaning about you staying out late but his heart is in the place.

E) I know he sounds angry but his bark is worse than his .

F) You're not exactly a ray of this morning. Did you have a bad night's sleep.

The Listening Paper

The Listening paper, which lasts approximately 45 minutes, consists of 4 parts.

Part 1: Three Option Multiple Choice
Part 1 consists of eight questions based on four short extracts.
These extracts might consist of short monologues, dialogues or texts. Candidates should read the introductory sentence to get a idea of the context for each extract. Try listening to short extracts from the radio and try to work out the main points.

Part 2 Sentence Completion
Part 2 contains nine questions each consisting of a sentence that needs to be completed with a word or short phrase. The questions are based on a monologue that might be in the form of a lecture, talk or broadcast. Candidates will need to show they have understood specific information, opinions or attitudes. The completed sentences should be accurate, logical and without spelling or grammatical errors.

Part 3 Four Option Multiple Choice
Five questions based on one text involving interacting speakers.
The context could be a broadcast or a discussion, and the questions will require a detailed understanding of points raised and will often require the candidate to be able to interpret attitude and infer meanings.

Part 4 Three-Way Matching
Six questions based on a a text involving interacting male and female speakers. Candidates must match statements to the speakers who express certain views. Candidates should be able to identifty opinion both by what is stated and also through an understanding of how stress and intonation can show the speakers' opinion.



Post comments asking Angela Dias any further questions and earn a medal for your relevant particpation!

You earned it big-time guys!!

An unexpected business call...

First answer these questions about the audio:

1) What's the caller's name?

2) Where's the caller from?

3) What business deal is the caller trying to get done?

4) Which idiomatic expression does the caller use to have an estimate of how much it will cost to close the deal?

Now, in order to get medals anyone should answer the first four questions correctly and come up with an interesting question about the audio themselves, which should in turn lead to at least 2 comments. The best comments will also get medals.

Let's have fun!!!

Tough competition!!!

A new challenge

Hi guys!
As a student who's just enrolled in the class, I thought it would be a nice idea to go beyond the "hello everybody" and propose a little challenge!
Well, inspired by our class today, in which we dealt with prepositional phrases, the challenge I propose is to complete the sentences with complex prepositions or prepositional verbs.

Here we go!

1) Capital Punishment [ ] inhuman and immoral.
2) As she drove away, I just [ ] and wept.
3) This is a concert [ ] victims of the war.
4) I've successfully completed the test [ ] my teacher.
5) He [ ] an interesting book at Borders.

See you all next friday!
Thiago