FCE Course Lesson 20 – B2 first for schools Reading Skills and Use of English 2
Dialogue b2 first for schools Reading Skills and Use of English 2. In this lesson you can hear a teacher talking about the FCE reading and use of english with tips to help you prepare for the exam. We also continue with the commonly misspelled words. Here is the second half of some of the most commonly misspelled words, either in American English or British.
Dialogue 20: Grammar Components of Reading and Use of English
Gordon is impressed that Emma already knows some specific grammar components to focus on in her revision. He thinks it’s a good idea to expand on this with a conversation about the revision techniques of grammar and vocabulary.
GORDON: So, Emma. is there one part of the exam in particular that you are finding difficult?
EMMA: Yes, I’m struggling with what to revise for the word formation part. How did you handle that one Terry?
TERRY: I remember that I revised compounding of words, so things like prefixes and suffixes.
GORDON: What about vocabulary? How did you study vocabulary Terry?
TERRY: Um, well I made vocabulary banks related to lots of different topics.
EMMA: That sounds useful, I suppose I should study idioms and word classes as well.
GORDON: Yes, sounds good! Just to make sure you’re clear on what exactly to revise, I’m going to give you a revision checklist for each of the four parts of the Use of English section. So, for multiple-choice cloze, phrasal verbs are essential to study in addition to synonyms, linking words and collocations which are words that go together. If I were you, I would take a look at the difference between make and do, for example. So, as you can tell, in part 1, you are tested on your vocabulary. Whereas in part 2, open cloze, you are tested on your knowledge of grammar. You should study specific grammar points such as pronouns and relative pronouns, articles, quantifiers…
EMMA: Sorry to interrupt, but by articles, you mean ‘a’ and ‘the’, right?
GORDON: Yes, sure. So, it’s good to revise both the indefinite and definite article. Also, when I say quantifiers, I mean “much” and “many” and so forth. Then, be sure to study modal and auxiliary verbs and prepositions. And, as Terry suggested, linking words would be useful to look over too.
EMMA: Great, what about part 3?
GORDON: For part 3, the best things to revise are prefixes and suffixes. It would also be helpful to study the spelling of words and the extent to which the spelling changes when prefixes or suffixes are added. Finally, for part 4; your knowledge of both grammar and vocabulary will be tested here. Do you have any idea what type of things you should revise for this part Emma?
EMMA: I suppose I should review different verb patterns and the conditional tense.
GORDON: Excellent. I would also advise you to study comparatives, superlatives, direct and indirect speech, auxiliary verbs and phrasal verbs which are so necessary to feel comfortable with because they always come up in the Reading parts. Everything clear Emma?
EMMA: I think so, thanks for your help. And what about part 5, 6, and 7?
GORDON: I think you should practise reading lots of different types of texts, looking for main ideas, tone, and attitude, but also specific information, opinion, as well as how an idea can be developed and structured.
EMMA: By reading the news for instance?
GORDON: Yes, absolutely. But also specialist magazines, as well as fiction. And try to see the logic, the tone, and the way ideas are generally presented. To summarise:
- in parts 1 to 4 you have to read a range of texts and complete grammar and vocabulary tasks.
- and in parts 5 to 7 you are given a series of texts and questions to answer, to demonstrate you can deal with a variety of text types
Vocabulary Reading Skills and Use of English 2
Exam tips Reading Skills and Use of English 2
EXAM TIP FOR b2 first for schools Skills and Use of English 2
Commonly misspelled words. Here is the second half of some of the most commonly misspelled words in American and British English.
P-Q
parliament
pastime
perceive
perseverance
personnel
plagiarise
playwright
possession
potatoes
precede
presence
principle
privilege
professor
promise
pronunciation
proof
prophecy (as noun) prophesy (valid as verb)
publicly
quarantine
questionnaire
R-S
readable
really
receive
receipt
recommend
referred
reference
relevant
religious
repetition
restaurant
rhyme
rhythm
secretary
seize
separate
sergeant
similar
skilful (American: skillful)
speech
successful
supersede
surprise
synonymous
T-Z
their
tomatoes
tomorrow
twelfth
tyranny
underrate
until
upholstery
usable/useable
vacuum
vehicle
vicious
weather
weird
welfare
whether
wilful (American: willful)
withhold
writing
Grammar and Vocabulary recommended Videos
Exercises First Reading Skills and Use of English 2 used in b2 first for schools
Vocabulary Exercise
Grammar Exercise
Previous lesson: FCE Lesson 19: The different parts of the Use of English exercises
Next lesson: FCE Lesson 21: Prefixes and suffixes to further succeed in the Reading and Use of English Word Formation exercise