雅思聽說讀寫備考技巧詳解

雅思聽說讀寫備考技巧詳解TheIELTS(InternationalEnglishLanguageTestingSystem)examinationteststheskillsneededforacademicstudyintheUnitedKingdom.Thetestcomprisesfourcomponents:listening,speaking,reading,andwriting.Eachcomponentisscoredindividuallyandanoverallscoreisawarded.Itisnotapass/failexambutisbandedfrom1to9,with1indicatingaveryrudimentaryknowledgeofEnglishand9indicatinglanguageskillsequivalenttothoseofanativespeaker.

TheGeneralMedicalCouncil(GMC)asksoverseasdoctorsforanoverallscoreof7.0,withascoreofatleast7.0inthespeakingcomponentandascoreofnolessthan6.0ineachoftheotherthreecomponents.AdoctorcanthenapplyforthetwopartsofthePLAB(ProfessionalLinguisticAssessmentBoard)exam.

Candidatescansittheexamincentresworldwide.ThroughoutBritain,centresruntheexamonaregularbasis.Thereisnolimitonthenumberoftimesapersonmaysittheexam,thoughacandidateisnotallowedtosititwithinthreemonthsofapreviousattempt.

Preparingfortheexamination

PreparationcoursesfortheIELTSexamareruninmanycollegesanduniversitiesacrossBritain.Somecoursesspecificallycaterfortheneedsofoverseasdoctors-forexample,SouthwarkCollege,BarnetCollege,andWestminsterAdultEducationCentreintheLondonarea.(Forfurtherinformationaboutthesecourses,seethenewsletterissuedbytheBMAforthosedoctorsontheRefugeeDoctordatabase.)

Preparingforeachcomponent

Listening

ThecandidatelistensoncetofourextractsofspokenEnglish,oftendialoguesorshortlectures-forexample,anintroductorylecturewelcomingstudentsontoacourseortwostudentsdiscussingtimetables.Thecandidatehastoanswer10questions(multiplechoice,shortanswerquestions,summarygap-fills,orcompleteflowcharts)oneachextract.Thetextsbecomeincreasinglydifficultasthetestprogresses.

Theskillsrequiredaretheabilitytolistenandsimultaneouslyrecordthemainorkeypointsheard;tonotecorrectlyimportantnumbersordatesmentioned;torecognisesubtleshadesofexpression;andtofollowdescriptionsofproceduresorprocesses.

Tips

ImmerseyourselfinspokenEnglishasmuchasyoucan.Listenregularlytoradioandtelevision.Radio4,forexample,offersarangeofbroadcastsoncurrentaffairs,science,education,andmedicineinwhichyouwillhearthetypeofvocabularyneededinthetest.

MakeuseofthevastamountoflisteningmaterialthatisavailableforstudentsstudyingEnglishatalllevels-forexample,theCambridgeSkillsforFluencyListeningSeriesortheHeadwayorCuttingEdgeseriesrangingfromelementarytoadvancedlevels.

Listentomaterialthatincludespeoplespeakinginavarietyofaccents.

Familiariseyourselfwiththewaywordsareshortened,stressed,andflowintoeachotherintypicaleverydayspeech(Headwayhasaseriesofbooksonpronunciation).

Writing

Thecandidateisaskedtocarryouttwotasks.

Task1involveswritingareportbasedoninformationordatapresentedinadiagramortableform.

Task2involveswritinganessayonagiventopicofgeneralinterest.Commontopicsincludetheimpactofthemodernworldontheenvironment;theroleofeducationinsociety;theconsequencesofpopulationgrowth;andtheeffectsofnewtechnologies.Candidateshave40minutestowriteatleast250words.

Tipsfortask1

Lookcarefullyatthefiguresbeforeyoubegintowrite.Isthechartshowingnumbersorpercentages?Thismaydeterminethegrammaticalstructuresyouneedtouse.

Beclearaboutwhichverbtense(ortenses)touse.

Writeasentencethatpresentsanoverallanalysisingeneraltermsoftheinformationpresentedinthechart.

Makesurethatyouunderstandthegrammaroftheverbs(andassociatedadverbs)usedtodescribetrends,suchasincrease/decrease;rise/fall;raise/reduce(slightly,gradually,significantly,markedly).

Tipsfortask2

Beforestarting,analysetheessaytitle.Isitaskingforanopinion,reasonsforandagainstapointofview,theadvantagesanddisadvantagesofsomething?Thiswillaffecthowyoustructureyouressay.

Decideonyouropinionandplantheessaybeforeyoustarttowrite.

Avoidlongsentences:thelongerthesentence,themoredifficultitbecomestocontrolthegrammar.

Learntherulesofpunctuation,particularlycommas.

Makesurethatyouunderstandthedifferencebetweenconjunctions(forexample,and,so,andbut)andconnecters(forexample,furthermore,however,inaddition,andsimilarly).

Leavetwoorthreeminutesattheendtocheckforcommonmistakes.

Reading

Thereadingsectioncomprisesthreearticlesonwhichcandidateshavetoanswer40questionsintotal.Thequestiontypesinclude:true/false/informationnotavailable;summarygap-fills;selectionofappropriateheadingsforparagraphsorsectionsofthetext;completionofdiagrams.Candidateshaveonehourtoreadthetextandanswerthequestions.Textsandtasksbecomeincreasinglydifficult.

Tips

Readregularly,especiallyjournalsormagazinesthatcontainarticleswithanacademicfocus.

Readforgistfirst.Usethetitle,headings,introduction,conclusion,andthetopicsentencesofeachparagraphtoacquireageneralunderstandingofatext.

Distinguishbetweenquestionsthatrequireyoutoscanforspecificinformation;thoseaskingforanunderstandingofthegist;andthosethatrequireclose,detailedreading.

Identifythekeyphrasesinboththetextandthequestions.

Bestrictinallocatingandadheringtoatimebywhichyouwillanswereachsectionofquestions.Ifyoucannotansweraquestionwithinthetimeyouhavegivenyourself,moveontothenext.

Speaking

Thespeakingmoduleinvolvesanoralinterviewwithanexaminer,lasting11-14minutes.Themodulehasthreemainparts.Inthefirst,thecandidateanswersgeneralquestionsabouthisorherhome,family,jobs,studies,andinterests.Inthesecond,thecandidatehasto