Unite One
Multiple-choice questions
Vocabularies
Jack, 15:
I spend time with my family most evenings. At the weekend, I prefer to hang out with my friends at the park or in the playground in the local woods. If it rains, I like to go to see a film with my friends.
Monica, 18:
I belong to a chess club which meets twice a month, and once a year we go camping. It's the highlight of my summer! We stay in tents on a lovely camp site and have picnics and barbecues. In the evenings, we organize quizzes and play cards. And we also play a lot of chess, of course!
Amrita, 12:
My older sisters spend a lot of time with their friends in the local shopping centre, but I'm not allowed to go out without an adult yet. I can still chat to my friends all the time though, by phone, email or text message.
1 : a large place where you can buy many different things
2 : a person who is no longer a child
3 : a place where you can stay in a caravan or a tent
4 : a meal in the open air
5 : outdoor parties where people cook and eat food
6 : games in which you have to answer questions
Skills development
Exam information /Multiple-choice questions
In the exam, there are different types of multiple-choice questions: you may be asked to choose the correct answer to a question, or you may be given a choice of sentence endings and asked to form a sentence that reflects the meaning of the text. The questions will be in the same order as the information in the text.
Exam tip
Deciding which are the key, or most important, words in a question can help you to locate the appropriate section of the text more quickly.
The value of friendship
P1- Recent research into the world of teenagers has suggested that they value friendship above everything else. Children aged between 12 and 15 were asked what was important to them. Their answers included possessions such as money and computer gadgets but also relationships with people. The teenagers questioned said that friends were the most important to them, more even than family, or boyfriends and girlfriends.
Q1: To teenagers, money is ...
not important.
as important as computer gadgets.
as important as relationships with people.
less important than friendships.
P2: We wanted to find out more about the results of this research so we asked our readers what they thought about the value of friendship. Here are some examples of what they said about their friends:
Ben, 15:
P3: Every time I have a fight with my parents, I need some time on my own. But after that, the first thing I do is meet up with my friends. After playing football for a while, or skateboarding, I usually feel much happier again.
Q2: Which of the following best describes Ben?
He often has fights.
He likes being alone.
He is happier than his friends.
He likes some sports.
Rory, 13:
P3: When I moved to a village in the countryside, I thought that it would be the end of my friendships. But my old friends have kept in touch and they come and visit in the holidays. There's a lake nearby, so we often go sailing, water-skiing or windsurfing. And I have made some new friends here too, at school, and since I joined the rugby club.
Q3: What do we know about the lake that Rory visits?
It is near the school.
It is used by a lot of people who do water sports.
It is near his home.
It is outside a village.
Carlos, 11:
P4: Last year, I broke my arm on a skiing holiday. Unfortunately, it was my left arm and I am lefthanded. My school friends all helped and copied their notes for me.
Q4: Carlos mentions that he is left-handed because ...
it makes skiing harder.
it makes it worse that he broke the arm he uses most.
it is an interesting fact about himself and he was talking about his left arm.
it is very unfortunate when you break your left arm.
P5: It seems that our readers value their friendships very highly. From what they told us, they spend a lot of time with their friends, just hanging out, or sharing hobbies and interests. They seem to need their friends for advice, help, chats, and for having fun. Clearly, friends make each other feel better. Looking at what our readers told us, the results of the recent research are not really surprising.
Q5- Why are Ben, Rory and Carlos mentioned in the article?
They know why teenagers value friendship.
They gave information about themselves.
They read magazines.
They are teenage boys.
Q6: The answers to the recent research and the answers from the readers ...
were surprising.
were the same.
were similar.
were both about sports.
Exam Practice
Exam tip
If a question is difficult, don't spend too much time on it - go to the next one. Once you find the next answer, you can go back in the text to find the answer to the previous question. This is because, in this type of task, the questions are in the same order as the information in the text.
Choose the appropriate letters a, b, c or d.
Q1: How many friends do the majority of people probably have? (text)
A: 30 real friends or fewer
B: a minimum of 30 real friends
C: 150 internet friends
D: 400 internet friends over the course of their lives
Q2: It is difficult..... (text)
A: to believe the numbers about friendship.
B: to keep your friends happy.
C: to trust what you read on social networking sites.
D: to give a definition of 'friendship'.
Q3: Friendship means ..... (text)
A: different things to different people.
B: dying for your friends if you need to.
C: helping each other until it is no longer necessary.
D: accepting people with different views.
Q4: Sometimes people worry because .... (text)
A: they think that they have too many friends.
B: they spend too much time with friends.
C: they think they are too old to make friends,
D: there are no guidelines about friendship.
Q5- Most o f us...... (text)
A: are dissatisfied with our friends
B: build friendships late in life.
C: are frightened to talk to strangers,
D: need to be with others.
Q6: What does 'Strangers are friends we have not met yet' mean? (text)
A: We have not met strangers before,
B: Strangers are also our friends.
C: We should not talk to strangers,
D: Strangers may become our friends
It is said that most people have no more than 30 friends at any given time, and 400 over the whole of their lives. However, on social networking sites, most users have about 150 friends. If these numbers are correct, then friendship means different things in different situations.
One of the reasons for having more online friends than real friends at a certain point in time is that online friendships do not require much time and energy: it is easy to accept friendships and keep them forever. Another possibility is that it is difficult to say 'no' when somebody asks us to be their friend online, even if we feel we don't really know them. The fact that they ask us suggests that they do consider us a friend, which is a nice feeling. Alternatively, they may be 'collectors' of online friends and just want to use us to get a higher number of friends and appear to be popular.
Online friendships are quite easy, but in the real world decisions about friendships are harder to make. There are no rules about friendship. There are no guidelines about how to make friends, how to keep friendships going, and how to finish friendships if we want to move on. People have very different opinions about this: some people would die for their friends and they value them more than family. Others say that friends are temporary, only there to help each other until they are no longer needed. If people with such different views become friends, this can lead to problems.
Because of these different definitions of friendship, it is easy to be unhappy about our friendships. We may want them to be deeper or closer, or we may want to have more friends in our lives. Sometimes we simply do not have the time to develop our friendships, or we fear we have left it too late in life to start. If we move to another country or city, we have to find ways to make new friends again.
This dissatisfaction shows us how important friendships are for most of us. We should not think that it could be too late to build friendships. We also need to understand that the need to be around other people is one that is shared by many. Therefore, we should not be too frightened about starting to talk to people who in the future may become our friends: it is likely that they too would like to get closer to us. Remember what people say: strangers are friends we have not met yet.
Multiple-choice questions
Vocabularies
afraid /amazed /amused /angry /annoyed /anxious /ashamed /bored /calm /confident /curious /delighted /depressed /disappointed /embarrassed /excited /frightened /glad /guilty /happy /jealous /miserable /nervous /relaxed /sad /terrible /tired /wonderful
A common mistake is to mix up boring with bored, or amused with amusing. The -ed ending normally describes feelings, and the -ing ending describes things (often the cause of the feelings).
X The film was long and I was boring.
The film was long and it was boring.
The film was long and I was bored.
1 In the evening I feel more than in the morning.
2 I usually find black and white films .
3 I have never found any of my exam results .
4 Classical music makes me feel .
5 There are still a lot of poor people in the world, which is .
6 I don't have any hobbies.
7 I think animals are .
8 I don't get easily .
Skills development
Exam information I Short-answer questions
In the exam, you may have to look for facts in a passage and give short answers to questions. You will be told how many words you are allowed to use in the answers. A number can be written either as a word, e.g. four, or as a number, e.g. 4, and counts as one word. A word with a hyphen in it, e.g. mother-in-law, counts as one word. You will not be required to use contractions.
1- She keeps fit by running after her two five-year-olds.
2- To use the gym equipment safely, follow the step-by-step instructions.
3- The Internet is helping the over-sixties to find up-to-date health information.
4- They are offering exercise classes 3 mornings a week for the part-time workers.
To keep to the maximum number of words, it can help to change a word form. Use a noun as an adjective the documents about the house -» the house documents, or to omit a verb there is a variety of reasons-» various reasons.
Question -» What were his parents afraid of?
Answer in the text -» there was a possibility that he would have problems with his health (12 words)
Short Answer -» his possible health problems (4 words).
Question -» When did they first find out there was a problem?
Answer in the text -» when doctors did a medical examination during the mother's pregnancy.
Short Answer -»
Question -» How does his illness affect him?
Answer in the text -» at the moment he is not affected by it at all but he needs to take medication.
Short Answer -»
Question -» What will happen in the future?
Answer in the text -» nobody knows that yet.
Short Answer -»
1- What do you think is the best way to lose weight?
2- How do you feel about football?
3- What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
4- Why is exercise important?
PRACTICE
1- Why do some people accept pain as a part of life?
2- What did Blaxter want to find out about?
3- What does the text say about how older people define health?
Illness is defined in a variety of ways, which depend on a number of factors. One of these factors is age differences. Older people tend to accept as 'normal' a range of pains and physical limitations which younger people would define as symptoms of some illness or disability. As we age, we gradually redefine health and accept greater levels of physical discomfort. In Blaxter's (1990) national survey of health definitions, she found that young people tend to define health in terms of physical fitness, but gradually, as people age, health comes to be defined more in terms of being able to cope with everyday tasks. She found examples of older people with really serious arthritis, who nevertheless defined themselves as healthy, as they were still able to carry out a limited range of routine activities.
Exam Practice
Exam information I Short-answer questions
Just as with multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions are normally in the same order as the information in the text. Sometimes in short-answer tasks, the instructions will ask you to use words taken directly from the text.
1- In what ways do our bodies physically differ?
2- Why do our bodies differ physically?
3- What types of jobs are poor people likely to have?
4- What aspects of poor people's living environments are not good?
5- What influences how groups of people value bodies?
6- What have wealthy cultures changed their opinion about?
7- In the past, what part of the body could indicate that people were rich?
9- According to sociology, in what ways should we think about the body?
10- Which two physical factors contribute to whether people are obese or not?
11- What does society say that being obese is?
The body
P1- The concept of 'the body' is closely related to the ideas of 'illness' and 'health'. All of us exist in 'bodies' of different shapes, heights, colours and physical abilities. The main reasons for the differences are genetic, and the fact that people's bodies change as they age. However, a huge range of research indicates that there are social factors too. (Back to Questions)
P2- Poorer people are more likely to eat 'unhealthy' foods, to smoke cigarettes and to be employed in repetitive, physically difficult work or the opposite: boring, inactive employment. Moreover, their housing conditions and neighbourhoods tend to be worse. All of these factors impact upon the condition of a person's health: the physical shapes of bodies are strongly influenced by social factors. (Back to Questions)
P3- These social factors are also closely linked to emotional wellbeing. People with low or no incomes are more likely to have mental health problems. It is not clear, however, whether poverty causes mental illness, or whether it is the other way around. For example, certain people with mental health issues may be at risk of becoming homeless, just as a person who is homeless may have an increased risk of illnesses such as depression. (Back to Questions)
P4- There are other types of social factors too. Bodies are young or old, short or tall, big or small, weak or strong. Whether these judgments matter and whether they are positive or negative depends on the cultural and historical context. The culture - and media - of different societies promote very different valuations of body shapes. What is considered as attractive or ugly, normal or abnormal varies enormously. Currently, for example, in rich societies the idea of slimness is highly valued, but historically this was different. In most societies the ideal body shape for a woman was a 'full figure' with a noticeable belly, while in middle-aged men, a large stomach indicated that they were financially successful in life. In many traditional African and Pacific island cultures, for example, a large body shape was a sign of success and a shape to be aimed at. (Back to Questions)
P5- It is easy for people to feel undervalued because of factors they have no power to change, for example, their age and height. Equally, they can feel pressured into making changes to their appearance when there is a choice, which in extreme cases can lead to obsessions with weight loss and fitness regimes. (Back to Questions)
P6- Sociologists, then, are suggesting that we should not just view bodies and minds in biological terms, but also in social terms. The physical body and what we seek to do with it change over time and society. This has important implications for medicine and ideas of health. Thus, the idea of people being 'obese' is physically related to large amounts of processed food, together with lack of exercise, and is therefore a medical issue. However, it has also become a mental health issue and social problem as a result of people coming to define this particular body shape as 'wrong' and unhealthy. (Back to Questions)
Skills development Exam tip 01 Exam tip 02 Practice
Vocabulary
1- numeracy 2- literacy 3- PE 4- RE
A- a lesson in which pupils do physical exercise or sport
B- a school subject in which children learn about religion and other social matters
C- the ability to work with numbers and do calculations.
D- the ability to read and write.
'Remember' has two main uses: (1) to recall people or events from the past, e.g. I remember how she looked that day; (2) to retain an idea or intention in your mind, e.g. He didn't remember to call me. If you help someone else to remember something, you remind them about it:
X Can you remember me to take a coat?
Can you remind me to take a coat?
1- Goodbye. I will always you.
2- Hello again. Do you me?
3- She always him that he needs to take his medicine.
4- Do you always to take your medicine?
5- me to take my medicine.
Skills development
Exam information I Completing tables and flow charts
In the exam, you may be given a table or a flow chart (a series of steps linked by arrows) with gaps in it. You will need to read a passage to find the missing information. The answers may be in one particular section of the text, but are unlikely to be in the same order as the gaps. You will be told how many words from the text you should use, e.g. no more than two words and/or a number, one word only.
Exam tip
Scanning is a very useful technique, because it saves time. It means that you move your eyes down the text quickly to find specific information, e.g. places, names, phrases, without reading everything properly and ignoring information you do not need.
Practice
1- Which paragraph(s) give(s) somebody's opinion? Go to the text
2- What does somebody really want people to understand? Go to the text
3- Which two paragraphs talk about the country that is the most welcoming to overseas students? Go to the text
4- Which paragraph gives examples to explain what an internationalization approach is? Go to the text
Paragraph number(s): Go to the text
Countries
People
Organizations or institutions
Exam tip
Use the text style or formatting to help you find the areas in the text that you are looking for, e.g. uppercase letters, numbers, italics, bold print, quotation marks and other visual information.
Numbers
Words in italics
Words in bold print
Abbreviations
Is it better to go abroad to study?
Student-friendly places (P1- P2- P3- P4- P5)
P1- The British Council has named the universities that are most welcoming to overseas students. As you would expect, English-speaking countries such as Australia, the UK and the US have made the top 10, but the number one may be a surprise: Germany. Two Far Eastern countries, i.e. China and Malaysia, made it to the top 5, ranking higher than the US, Japan, Russia, Nigeria and Brazil. Back to questions
The benefits of studying abroad
P2- Russell Howe, a Scot who is currently studying a Business degree at Stellinga International College in the Netherlands, previously also studied in India (which came 11th on the list). 'People often ask me why I needed to travel, because British universities have a good reputation elsewhere in the world. But this is not something I needed to do, but something I really wanted to do. I have learnt different ways of looking at things, but I also found out how much we all have in common, wherever we are from. All of this will be useful in my future career.' Back to questions
P3- Russell is not the only international student in his department. Business and administrative courses are the most popular with international students, followed by engineering and technology, social studies, creative arts and design, medicine-related topics and law. Manal, a student at the Faculty of Art and Design at Stellinga, says she has similar reasons to Russell, but there is more: 'I wanted to broaden my understanding of the world. I have enhanced my language skills: I am more fluent in English and have also taken a level 1 Dutch evening class. One of my modules is about European art, and I believe that I am benefiting more from studying this in Europe than anywhere else. I have managed to visit other countries in my holidays, and really feel that this whole experience is developing my global perspective. I also hope that I have made lasting friendships and contacts.' Back to questions
Enabling student access
P4- What is it that makes these countries student-friendly? Well, all of them make it easy for international students to apply, and provide ongoing support once they are there. They also offer good quality degrees, which are valued highly in other countries too. The fact that Germany came out as winner is probably due to the country's efforts towards internationalization. One aspect of this is that the country welcomes foreign students by charging them the same fees as home students, meaning that in some universities overseas students study for free. Many classes are conducted in English, and so are most leaflets, making it easier for international students to keep informed and take part in student life. Back to questions
P5- Apart from the financial reasons already mentioned, this type of educational internationalization can help with the quality of research in these universities, through e.g. networking, team work and the sharing of skills. For students, it is a valuable addition to their skills and experience at a time when jobs are not easy to find. Back to questions
Exam Practice
The required documents :
The online application process for people outside the EU:
Applying to Stellinga College
Why Stellinga?
Thank you for your interest in Stellinga International College. As an international student, we are sure you will find our university college an exciting place to study, with like-minded and ambitious individuals.
Preparing and submitting your application
We have tried to make the application process as easy as possible for you, but there are a number of procedures you must follow.
All our courses are taught in English, so first of all you will probably need to submit proof of your English language ability. We require an IELTS score of 6.5 or another test result which is equivalent (see appendix). You will also have to send us your secondary school diploma, so that we can evaluate it. If you have the International Baccalaureate or a Dutch VWO diploma, you don't need to provide English language test results.
We will also require a personal statement. This is a text of up to 1000 words in which you introduce yourself, explain your interest in our college, and why you want to study your chosen course.
If you are from outside the European Union (EU), it is important that you have an entrance visa before you come to study in the Netherlands, but we will apply for this for you.
We now only accept online applications, so please ensure that you have all your documents ready to upload before you begin. Any documents that are not in English originally will also need to be translated and the translations also uploaded.
You will need a passport photograph; a copy of your passport; copies of all your certificates, diplomas, etc.; your proof of language ability (see above); and your personal statement in English.
What happens next?
Your application will then be considered. If your initial application is successful, you will be invited for an interview. This will be conducted in English via Skype, over the phone or on site, depending on whether you can come and visit us. You will talk to two or three members of staff for up to 30 minutes, and will be asked to elaborate on your application documents and your personal statement. We aim to inform you of our decision in writing, within 4 weeks. There are several possible outcomes: you may not have been successful; you may be offered a place at the college or you may be offered a place on the waiting list. You will need to reply to any offers within two weeks, otherwise your place may be offered to somebody else. Good luck with your application.