English for Cambridge First Certificate [antikvár]

Foreword to the first edition This book is intended for students who have reached that familiar stage in learning English where they need an incentive to carry on, such as preparing for the Cambridge First Certificate examination. My aim has been to provide a variety of opportunities to develop, rather than merely to test, the skills of reading and listening comprehension and the ability to pick out and make good use of interesting sentence patterns. At the same time I have tried to provide practice in word formation and vocabulary selection, and to review key grammatical features in a manner that does not simply involve going over the same old things in the same old way. The seaion called 'Interpretation and discussion' is designed to provoke, in a natural way, lively interaction in the classroom, and at the same time to prepare for the oral part of the examination. The dialogues and letters taken together form a kind of story which it is hoped will add interest. Indeed my intention has been to provide thematic links both within and between the Chapters. The emphasis in all sections is on providing materials which will lead to lively and meaningful classroom activity. As well as bemg a key to the student's book, the accompanying teacher's book contains further ideas and suggestions for language activities, and should therefore be helpful to the student working on his/her own. It also contains transcripts of the Ustening comprehension texts. I nrmly believe that any material provided for learners of a foreign language should be interesting and thought-provoking in hsel^ and that students learn best when they are enjoying themselves, their attention absorbed as much by the content as by the language of what they are studying. If users of this book find that the materials and the activities suggested arouse their interest and give them pleasure I am confident that the Examination at the end of the course will 'take care of itself. (All the same, the last five Chapters give specific practice in various sections of the examination, just to be on the safe side!) Many people have contributed directly and indirectly to this book. I am grateful to those who have tried the materials out in their schools and/or offered useful criticism, especially Lesley Gore of Bell School, Cambridge; Helen Monfries of West London Polytechnic; Brian Graver of the Overseas Student Centre in Hove; John Andrews and Mary Roberts of Davies's School, London; my colleagues at King's School and ELTEC in Bournemouth; and Maria Dolores Solé and her colleagues at the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas in Barcelona. In wrhing the grammatical sections, I got invaluable help from R. A. Close's Reference Grammar. What little I know about the craft of writing I owe to Robert O'Neill. A number of ideas in the book arose out of conversations I had with Alan Maley, Chris Brumfit, Roger Scott, Bob Brahhwaite, and whh Pat and Val Mills at ESADE. My special thanks are due to Evelyn O'Neill, who read the manuscript to help to weed out things which she knew were rubbish; and to Joy McKellen without whose skilfiil encouragement this book would never have seen the light of day. The book is dedicated to Montse Trapé, who first inspired me to write it, and taught me to put the student, rather than the language, at the heart of my teaching. JakeAllsop Bournemouth, 1978