Education
Speaking
Here is a photograph of some students studying.
Please tell me what you can see in the photograph.
Talk for approximately one minute.
Your photograph shows people studying. Now I’d like you to talk about where you study and how you like to study for exams.
Back-up prompts
- Talk about where you study
- Talk about how you study
- Talk about when you study
- Talk about why it is important to study for an exam
Reading
Look at the text below about the future of education.
Read the sentences and decide if each sentence is correct or incorrect.
If it is correct, choose A. If it is incorrect, choose B.
The future of education
People frequently make predictions about how education is going to change in the future. Every year, education ministers all over the world wanting the best for their students, meet to discuss the options. The best engineers from all over the world present their ideas to the global education ministers and often some of their ideas are accepted and introduced into the education system.
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From the day they are born, children in Europe are surrounded by technology. A typical house in Europe has between one and two televisions, two mobile phones and one computer with direct access to the internet. Then at school, students are encouraged to use computers and tablets to complete their assignments. Many classrooms use smartboards now instead of white boards. There is no escaping technology. The other day, I watched my two year old niece switch on her father’s tablet and start up her favourite computer game. Evidence that the world is changing and we need to prepare for these changes.
So what is going to happen in the future? How is education going to change? When we asked people this question 30 years ago, everyone said that teachers would not have a place in education. They predicted that they would no longer be in the classroom. Everyone predicted that people would be replaced by robots, but this has not happened and we don’t think this will happen in the future. Robots do not have emotions, something that a teacher must have. What we think will happen in the near future is that more and more ebooks will be used in classrooms and students will use computers instead of pen and paper. As technology is already all around us, it will be used more and more in the classroom.
| 1) | The education ministers meet once a year to discuss education. | |
| 2) | Most of the ideas the engineers present to the ministers are accepted. | |
| 3) | Children in Europe own one television and a mobile phone each. | |
| 4) | Teachers prefer children to use computers to complete assignments. | |
| 5) | Robots are going to be introduced into classrooms across Europe in the next 30 years. | |
| 6) | In the future, computers will replace pen and paper. | |
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Grammar – Reported speech
Look at the examples of reported speech.
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| A. “I am happy” | She said (that) she was happy. |
| B. “I’m drinking tea” | She said (that) she was drinking tea |
| C. “I went to Madrid” | She said (that) she had been to Madrid. |
| D. “I haven’t done my homework” | She said (that) she hadn’t done her homework. |
| E. “I’ll have a cup of tea” | She said (that) she would have a cup of tea. |
| F. “I can play tennis” | She said (that) she could play tennis. |
| G. “I am going to buy a car” | She said (that) she was going to buy a car. |
Notice that the tenses change.
A. Match the examples to the tenses.
| 1) | Am going to - was going to | |
| 2) | Can - could | |
| 3) | Past simple - past perfect | |
| 4) | Present continuous - past continuous | |
| 5) | Present perfect - past perfect | |
| 6) | Present simple - past simple | |
| 7) | Will - would | |
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B. Look at the direct speech below. Write the verb in each sentence.
| 1) | ||
| 2) | ||
| 3) | ||
| 4) | ||
| 5) | ||
| 6) | ||
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C. Complete the reported speech with the verb in the correct tense.
| 1) | The school is big. She said that the school big. | |
| 2) | They walked the dog. They said that they the dog. | |
| 3) | She is going to buy a car. She said that she a car. | |
| 4) | You will wash up later. She said that she later. | |
| 5) | He can’t go to the party. He said that he to the party. | |
| 6) | We haven’t watched the film. They said that they the film. | |
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Words that change
Hay que cambiar algunos pronombres cuando utilizamos el ‘reported speech’.
For example:
Direct speech Reported speech
- “Our car is red” → They said their car was red.
- “I can’t go with you on Friday” → He said he couldn’t go with you on Friday.
Las palabras de tiempo y lugar también cambian:
- Today → that day
- Tomorrow → the next day
- Next week → the following week
- Now → then
- Here → there
- Tonight → that night
- Yesterday → the day before
- Last week → the week before
- This → that
Learn them!
For example:
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| “Tonight I’m going to study for an exam” | She said that that night she was going to study for an exam. |
| “This is my new car” | She said that that was her new car. |
D. Complete each sentence with the correct word.
| 1) | I went to the party yesterday. She said she had been to the party | |
| 2) | They are happy now. She said they were happy | |
| 3) | Our cousin lives in London. They said cousin lives in London | |
| 4) | My holiday was excellent!. She said holiday had been excellent. | |
| 5) | Tonight they’re going home. He said they were going home. | |
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E. Report the following sentences. Be careful with: the tense, the pronouns and check if you need to change the time or place word.
| 1) | I’m thirsty. She said | |
| 2) | We are going to be late tomorrow. They said | |
| 3) | I have never been in an aeroplane before. She said | |
| 4) | “Last week they ate a lot of food. She said | |
| 5) | My brother is looking for a new job. She said | |
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Vocabulary
Complete each definition with the correct word.
- Certificate
- Desks
- Eraser
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Timetable
| 1) | You use these to cut paper. | |
| 2) | You might get one of these at the end of your course. | |
| 3) | You use this when you make a mistake. | |
| 4) | You use this to draw straight lines. | |
| 5) | This tells you when your lessons are. | |
| 6) | Students sit at these. | |
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Answer the following questions out loud.
- Are you an organised person?
- Do you get reports at school? Or did you get reports at school?
- Have you ever received a certificate? Why did you receive it?
Listening
You will hear the results from a restaurant survey.
For each question, fill in the missing information in the numbered space.
| Sonido |
Results from a restaurant survey
The Plough
| 1) | A new restaurant in a traditional English pub. | |
| 2) | I ate there ago. | |
| 3) | To start with I ate leek and onion soup, then roast lamb with . For desert, I ate chocolate cheesecake. | |
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Nelitos
| 1) | Italian food cooked by two Italian chefs. | |
| 2) | I had cold meats, spaghetti with , then Tiramisu | |
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The Raj
| 1) | Indian restaurant in centre of town. | |
| 2) | I ate there evening. | |
| 3) | Meat very tasty and rich. Recommend the chicken korma and prawn rice. | |
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Summary
| 1) | The Raj was my favourite. | |
| 2) | Service in all was . | |
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Writing
Here are some sentences about a house.
For each question, complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first.
Use no more than three words.
| 1) | I moved to this flat one week ago. She said she to that flat a week ago. | |
| 2) | My brother lived here before. My cousin used here. | |
| 3) | He said he wanted to live in a smaller house. He said to live in a smaller house. | |
| 4) | It's more expensive than my old house. My old house wasn't this house. | |
| 5) | My friend said she'd never seen such a beautiful house. My friend said I such a beautiful house. | |
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Recording
Journalist:
Good evening everyone. I have been lucky enough to visit three restaurants in the town of Hertford which can be found just north of London. I ate one meal in each of them and I’m now going to give you a brief summary of my findings.
Today I went to the Plough. The Plough is a new restaurant located inside a traditional English pub. The pub has a large garden which is ideal for kids. I ate there today, in fact just three hours ago. The menu was very extensive and I opted to try everything on the specials board, just because everything sounded really tasty. I started with leek and onion soup which they served with crusty white bread. This was then followed by a delicious roast lamb with potatoes. For desert, I had a large slice of chocolate cheesecake. The starters and main course were good, but not excellent. The cheesecake I had for desert was rich and so I couldn’t finish. The portion was too big.
Then last week, I went to Nelitos, an Italian restaurant owned by two Italian chefs from Naples. When you enter the restaurant, you are transformed to Italy. You hear Italian music, the waiters are all native Italian speakers and you can’t escape the Italian flags. I ate there on a Thursday evening and it was really busy. I had cold meats to start with followed by spaghetti with meatballs. I was still quite hungry after the spaghetti because the portion s were really small. As I was so hungry, I asked for homemade Tiramisu. It was full of flavour and the best I had eaten.
The third restaurant I visited was the Raj. It’s an Indian restaurant run by two brothers and their uncle. I went on a Tuesday evening and unfortunately, the restaurant itself was empty. This didn’t have a negative effect on the atmosphere as there was music and Indian dancers that performed on a stage. I must say that all of the food was delicious. The meat was tasty and rich. I started with a selection of meats and then had chicken korma and prawn nice. The prawns were amazing. I recommend these dishes to everyone. Delicious!
So, these were the three restaurants I visited. Out of all of the restaurants, I must say that, I preferred the Raj. Although the atmosphere was not that great, the food was delicious and not too expensive. However, I must say that the service in all of the restaurants was top quality and I would definitely return to all of them.
