Eg3: The Lost City of Demile Emerges from the Desert Sands of California

For 75 years, the majestic dunes that tower over this humble coastal village have held one of Hollywood’s oldest
Cecil B. DeMille, a founding father of motion pictures, once chose this remote, wind-swept site 170 miles (270 ki
a plaster replica of ancient Egypt and stage his 1923 slient epic "The Ten Commandments." It had all the right tou
the walls of a pharaoh's city rising 10 stories high to an avenue of nearly two dozen five-ton sphinxes lining the sa
like it, and it remains one of the largest movie sets ever built.
But one the cameras stopped rolling and a cast of thousands sent packaging, it all vanished. Then in his memoirs,
historic set's mysterious fate. "If 1,000 years from now, archaeologists happen to dig beneath the sands of Guadal
rush into print with the amazing news that Egyptian civilization, far from being confined to the Valley of the Nile, e
Ocean of North America."

Word
majestic
dune
tower over
humble
coastal
hold secret
founding father
motion pictures
wind-swept
erect
plaster replica
stage
slient epic
commandment
to have the right touches
e Desert Sands of California

er over this humble coastal village have held one of Hollywood’s oldest and strangest secrets.
tion pictures, once chose this remote, wind-swept site 170 miles (270 kilometres) north of Los Angeles to erect
e his 1923 slient epic "The Ten Commandments." It had all the right touches, on a monumental scale - from
ies high to an avenue of nearly two dozen five-ton sphinxes lining the sand. There had never been any-thing
ovie sets ever built.
a cast of thousands sent packaging, it all vanished. Then in his memoirs, DeMille dropped a playful hint of the
ars from now, archaeologists happen to dig beneath the sands of Guadalupe," he wrote, "I hope thay will not
t Egyptian civilization, far from being confined to the Valley of the Nile, extended all the way to the Pacific

Example Meaning
impressive because of size or beauty
a small hill of sand formed by the wind, near the sea or in a desert
near the sea or in a desert
Strategy
1 Give longer responses
2 Avoid being too direct
3 Use filter and redundant language
4 Don't recycle vocabulary
5 Try to speak in degree

The marking system

Fluency and Coherence

The most important aspect of your ―Fluency and Coherence‖ score is

the length of your response and your use of cohesive features such as
linking words, discourse markers, connectives and redundant phrases.

“What do you like about your hometown?”

“My hometown is Wuhan. Wuhan is very modern so I like the buildings. All
over the city there are lots of new interesting buildings being built. When I was
younger most of the buildings looked the same so it wasn't as attractive as it is
nowadays.”
-> Lack of cohesive features
“Well you know, my hometown is Wuhan and you might not know this but
Wuhan is a very modern, so I suppose I would have to say I like the buildings.
Actually, all over the city there are lots of new interesting buildings being built. In
fact, it's quite interesting to consider that when I was younger most of the building
looked the same, so you know it wasn't as attractive as it is nowadays.”
Lexical Resource
A score of 8 will awarded if the candidate shows:
 A wide vocabulary range – enough for all topics.
 Vocabulary is used to give precise and exact meanings.
 Use a range of uncommon words and idioms correctly.
 Explain ideas using uncommon vocabulary.
In many ways the score of 8 is similar to 7. The main difference is the amount of
uncommon vocabulary and idiomatic language.

"Beijing is a big city."

BIG -> sprawling, cosmopolitan, politically-important, fast-developing, colossal

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

The 8 score in this section is quite simple to describe:
 Wide range of grammar structures and features.
 Wide range of complex sentence structures used correctly.
 Most sentences contain no grammar errors.
 There may be occasional grammar errors but these are probably
careless mistakes and do not affect meaning.
An 8 score is awarded when the candidate can produce examples of most complex
sentence structures and can produce most tenses correctly and use them in the right way.
 There are a few mistakes.

To score 7 in this section the majority of sentences should be complex

sentences (tense & grammar)

Pronunciation
The candidate will be awarded 9 in this section if the following requirements can be
met:
 Fully demonstrates native-speaker style pronunciation and skillfully
uses pronunciation devices to control meaning.
 Some minor evidence of first language accent may still be present but
this have no effect on intelligibility.
The speaking test format
Part 1
250+ potential question -> it is not feasible to learn 250+ set of vocabulary
We should explore different type of questions and develop suitable
structure for each type.
Type 1: "Basic description" question

(1) Lead-in phrase OK then...Alright...Well, you know...Actually...Right,

OK...Well...Well first of all...

...the first thing I should mention is that

(2) 1st pointing phrase
(3) Point 1
(4) Linking word/ phrase +
detail about point 1
......the point I'd like to begin with is that
......I could start off by saying that
......my initial point would be that
......I need to start off by pointing out that
......the main thing you need to know is that
......I suppose I should begin by highlighting the fact
that
......you may (or may not) be aware that in fact
......I really need to kick off with the point that...

Another point which I could add is that…

(5) 2nd pointing phrase A second feature which I should mention is that…
As well as that, I could say that…
On top of that I can also add that…
Also, I suppose I should say that…
(6) Point 2
(7) Linking word/ phrase +
detail about point 2
 And I shouldn't forget to mention that…
(8) 3rd pointing phrase In addition to what I've just said, I can add that…
Something else that I need to comment on is that…
I guess I could also remark on the fact that...
(9) Point 3
(10) Linking word/ phrase +
detail about point 3

―Well first of all, the main thing you need to know is that...(point 1)...In fact...(detail
1)...On top of that I can also add that...(point 2)...which means...(detail 2)...Something else
that I need to comment on is that...(point 3)...So actually (detail 3)...‖

PRACTICE
Tell me about the house/ flat you live in.
Describe your hometown.
Tell me about your job.
Tell me about your family.
Tell me about your city.
What is your main ambition?
What makes you happy?

Type 2: "Liking" question

I'm fairly/ pretty keen on...
I'm really into...
I'm quite a big fan of...
I simply adore...
I'm quite enthusiastic about...
I generally prefer...(use only when comparing)

DO NOT USE LIKE/DISLIKE because it do not present any skills

"Do you like animals?"

"Well to be quite honest, in general I would say that I'm actually quite keen on
animals, but in particular I would probably have to say that I'm really into domestic pets
like dogs. I guess the reason why I'm a fan of dogs is because I adore their loyalty and
companionship. In addition to dogs I suppose I'm also pretty passionate about endangered
species, especially dolphins and things like that and this is due to the fact I feel some
degree of responsibility towards wildlife protection."

Possible starting phrases for ―liking‖ include:

Well in general I would say that...
Actually, I suppose that for the most part I'd probably say that...
Well, to be honest I should really say that...
Of course I think I'd have to say that...
Certainly I would definitely say that...
Well, I guess that generally speaking I would certainly say that...

Now you need to add a linking word or phrase to introduce a specific type of the
topic of category (eg, pizza).
….but in particular...
...particularly...
...especially...
...specifically...
...to be more precise...
...to be more specific...
...to be more exact...
...to be more accurate...