Creative Reading B4 Unit 4-6

Unit 4

W ords to note

Cabinet (2); cape (12); cellar (19); chapel (7); choir (15); comics (23); cricket (10); dean (1); disintegrate (21); dismantle (4); donation (17); don (16); dummy (3); monarchy (5); pole (22); porter (13); prank (20); reverie (14); rivalry (18); rugby (11); sight (6); spire (9); tricky (8);

Understanding the text

Part A: Comprehending the text

Fact Sheet:

1）The oldest university in the world;

2）twelfth;

3）each specializes in a particular subject;

4）and 90% of them come from public schools;

5）Littlewood Pools;

6）bikes;

7）female;

8）the sons are not allowed to walk on the grass;

Proof-read version:

1)which is one of the oldest universities in the world;

2)thirteenth;

3)none of them specialize in a particular subject;

4)90% of them used to come from public schools;

5)the managing director of Littlewood Pools;

6)cars;

7)all

8)only the dons are allowed to walk on the grass;

Part A: Vocabulary in context (Ⅰ)

Read; gown; formal hall; dean; dons;

1. Cambridge blue (c);

2. Oxford blue (e);

3. Prussian blue (b);

4. magenta (a);

5. sienna (f);

6. turquoise (d);

Unit 5

W ords to note

1. applicant (4);

2. arrogance (9);

3. boast (22);

4. competence (12);

5. compile (20);

6. convey (25);

7. despondent (18)

8. evaluation (14);

9. hesitant (6); 10. highlight (1);

11. impress (3); 12. initial (2); 13. integrity (24); 14. justified (17);

15. misconception (8); 16. mismatch (15); 17. motivation (5); 18. predominantly (11);

19. presumptuous (16); 20. probing (23); 21. recruiter (13); 22. secure (7);

23. validate (21); 24. vary (10); 25. verify (19);

Understanding the text

Part A: Comprehending the text

Y es: 1, 8;

No: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10;

e.g. use the appropriate tone and style

present your personal information and tailor it to the

answer and ask the questions that present yourself in

impress the interviewer right at the beginning

Part A: Adopting a “YOU” attitude

1.I would to like to (would like to) ;

2.can let me put what I have learned at university into practice (would allow me to

apply these skills to improve aspects of your company);

3.you offer engineer trainees both pre-service and in-service training. What I will

gain from these training programmes will definitely help my career development (the pre-training and in-service training programmes you offer would benefit both myself and the company in the long term)

4.I would expect (could reasonably hope)

5.I very much forward to (very much look forward to)

Extending your vocabulary

Unit 6

W ords to note

1. abject (3);

2. bedridden (5);

3. bench (21);

4. contract (10);

5. crematorium (18);

6. dashboard (13);

7. ghoul (7);

8. greengrocer (20);

9. in awe of (6);

10. indescribable (17); 11. maxim (22); 18. nail (24); 19. opulence (26);

20. partition (1); 21. polio (4); 22. pram (19); 23. pride and joy (8); 24. prop up (9); 25. reluctantly (2); 26. replica (11); 27. slaughterhouse (15); 28. soot (25);

29. toecap (12); 30. trapdoor (14); 31. veneer (23); 32. walnut (16);

Understanding the text

Part A: Comprehending the text

1.allow the coal to be delivered and stored in the cellar.

2.the toilet was outside at the back of the house and he was afraid.

3.his father could not walk, so he could not get a job. Also, there were no state

benefits at that time for unemployed or sick people.

4.they knew his father would not accept the money, even though he needed it

very much, as he was too proud.

5.would otherwise have been thrown away

6. a tap in the cellar.

7.they never complained always tried to help out in any way they could.

8.he then saw so little of him.

9.that no matter what difficulties a family had, the children must never find out

about them or suffer in any way.

10.his father had overcome such enormous difficulties, such severe problems, to

give his family a good life.

Part B: Interpreting the text

1.The Good Old Days / Life’s a Gas / Aren’t I the Lucky One?

2.Because it is luxurious and contrasts with his description of his earlier life.

3.Regretful reminiscence of the beauty to be found in poverty. Regretful

because the writer wishes he had appreciated the truly important things in his life, which is unrealistic. It is also regretful because (as we learn in the last couple of sentences) the author’s father has just died.

Developing your skills

Inference

1.The writer was feeling rather emotional--- for several possible reasons

which the reader, at this stage, is not certain of but which he can assume he

will find out later in the text.

2.One sack was a very small amount; probably everybody else was getting

much more.

3.The writer’s family was so poor that they could never afford to buy biscuits;

he had never seen whole biscuits, only the broken ones rejected by the

factory and brought home by his mother.

4.The writer’s family was not that unusual; most families were suffering

hardships of some kind.

5.It shows us that the writer was not really busy at all --- it was simply an

excuse for not visiting his parents more often.

6.It obviously shows us he is upset, but it also asks us to consider why he is

upset.

7.The writer’s father has just died.

Extending your vocabulary

1b) Broken glass is dangerous.

2a) Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

2b) Dad, is it true that dragons exist?

3a) The Great Wall of China is one of the seven wonders of the world.

3b) It is so wonderful to see you again after such a long time.