Test Reading

Read the article about speaking skills. The headings are missing from the article. Choose from the headings A–F the one which fits each gap. There is one extra heading.

Say what you mean
1 ……………………………………………

Can you express yourself well? Can you put your thoughts into words clearly? Do you use a lot of different vocabulary when you talk? Can you usually find the best words to express your ideas and opinions? I’m not talking about speaking in a foreign language, I’m talking about your ability to communicate clearly when you speak your native language.

2……………………………………………

Teachers at school usually concentrate on helping students to write clearly, but now language experts think that they need to give more time to helping them to speak well too. Students learn pages and pages of new vocabulary and study a lot of grammar rules at school. They spend a lot of their lessons learning how to write essays and prepare for written exams. But although these things help their writing skills, they don’t develop their ability to communicate orally.

3……………………………………………

Adults in every generation think that teenagers don’t express themselves well. This was true in Shakespeare’s time and it’s true today! They often say that young people use too many slang expressions and that they repeat simple words again and again instead of using a wider variety of language. However research shows that the use of slang is actually quite creative. Every new generation of teenagers invents new expressions and these become part of that generation’s identity. Some of them eventually move into the language of the whole population, while some of them are forgotten. It seems that many young people use the same phrases again and again when they speak because they are never really taught about developing their speaking skills.

4……………………………………………

The world today is changing. We are communicating more and more by video and phone and the ability to express your ideas clearly and creatively to other people is extremely important. Teachers need to give more training to students about how to give talks, how to summarise information and how to find different ways to explain or present things orally. All of these speaking skills will be extremely useful for students in the future when they start looking for jobs.

5……………………………………………

Learning how to speak well in their own language first, can also help students of foreign languages become more effective learners. The techniques for developing good oral communication skills are the same in every language and if you learn them well in your native language, you will soon have the confidence to become a great communicator in foreign languages too. These are not just lessons for school, they’re lessons for life!

Read the article again and decide if the sentences are True (T), or False (F).

1 A good speaker can put their thoughts into words clearly.

Say what you mean
1 ……………………………………………

Can you express yourself well? Can you put your thoughts into words clearly? Do you use a lot of different vocabulary when you talk? Can you usually find the best words to express your ideas and opinions? I’m not talking about speaking in a foreign language, I’m talking about your ability to communicate clearly when you speak your native language.

2……………………………………………

Teachers at school usually concentrate on helping students to write clearly, but now language experts think that they need to give more time to helping them to speak well too. Students learn pages and pages of new vocabulary and study a lot of grammar rules at school. They spend a lot of their lessons learning how to write essays and prepare for written exams. But although these things help their writing skills, they don’t develop their ability to communicate orally.

3……………………………………………

Adults in every generation think that teenagers don’t express themselves well. This was true in Shakespeare’s time and it’s true today! They often say that young people use too many slang expressions and that they repeat simple words again and again instead of using a wider variety of language. However research shows that the use of slang is actually quite creative. Every new generation of teenagers invents new expressions and these become part of that generation’s identity. Some of them eventually move into the language of the whole population, while some of them are forgotten. It seems that many young people use the same phrases again and again when they speak because they are never really taught about developing their speaking skills.

4……………………………………………

The world today is changing. We are communicating more and more by video and phone and the ability to express your ideas clearly and creatively to other people is extremely important. Teachers need to give more training to students about how to give talks, how to summarise information and how to find different ways to explain or present things orally. All of these speaking skills will be extremely useful for students in the future when they start looking for jobs.

5……………………………………………

Learning how to speak well in their own language first, can also help students of foreign languages become more effective learners. The techniques for developing good oral communication skills are the same in every language and if you learn them well in your native language, you will soon have the confidence to become a great communicator in foreign languages too. These are not just lessons for school, they’re lessons for life!

Read the article again and decide if the sentences are True (T), or False (F).

2 Students usually learn grammar rules at school to help their speaking.