ESOL Examinations a A ate I + UNIVERSITY of CAMBRIDGE Cambridge Books for Cambridge Exams ee¢Cambridge Preliminary English Test 5 WITH ANSWERS Examination papers from University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations S CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESSCAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS ‘Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapor , So Paulo, Dethit ‘Cambridge University Press ‘The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521714389 © Cambridge University Press 2008 Its normally necessary for written permission for copying to be obtained in advance from a publisher. The candidate answer sheets at the back of this book are designed to be copied and distributed in class. ‘The normal requirements are waived here and itis not necessary to write to Cambridge University Press for permission for an individual teacher to make copies for use within his or her own classroom. Only those pages which carry the wording “© UCLES 2008 EE may be copied. First published 2008 Reprinted 2008 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library ISBN 978-0-521-71438-9 Student's Book with answers ISBN 978-0-521-71437-2 Student's Book without answers ISBN 978-0-521-71440-2 Audio CD Set ISBN 978-0-521-71439-6 Self-study PackContents AGuideto PET 4 Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 12 32 52 72 Frames for the Speaking test 92 Test1Key 104 Test2Key 117 Test3Key 129 Test 4Key 141 Sample answer sheets 153 Acknowledgements 159 Visual material for the Speaking test colour section at centre of bookA Guide to PET The PET examination is part of a group of examinations developed by Cambridge ESOL called the Cambridge Main Suite. The Main Suite consists of five examinations which have similar characteristics but are designed for different levels of English language ability. Within the five levels, PET is at Level B1 (Threshold) in the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Leaming, teaching, assessment. It has also been accredited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in the UK as an Entry Level 3 ESOL certificate in the National Qualifications Framework. UK National Council of Europe Qualifications Examination Framework Level Framework Level CPE Certificate of Proficiency in English ice 3 CAE Certificate in Advanced English ca a _| FOE First Certicate in English ia u PET Preliminary English Test Et Foy 5: KET Key English Test fe oe PET is taken by more than 80,000 people each year in more than 80 countries, and is a valuable qualification if you want to work or study abroad or to develop a career in international business. It is also useful preparation for higher level exams, such as FCE (First Certificate in English), CAE (Cettiticate in Advanced English) and CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English). It you can deal with everyday written and spoken communications (e.g. read simple textbooks and articles, write simple personal letters, make notes during a meeting), then this is the exam for you. Topics ‘These are the topics used in the PET exam: Clothes Hobbies and leisure Relations with other people Daily lite House and home Services Education Language Shopping Entertainment and media Natural world Social interaction Environment People Sport Food and drink Personal feelings, opinions ‘Transport Free time and experiences Travel and holidays Health, medicine and Personal identification Weather exercise Places and buildings Work and jobsPET content: an overview A guide to PET Paper_| Name | Timing | Content Test focus Paper1 | Reading’ | 1 hour Reading: Assessment of candidates’ Writing | 30 minutes | Five parts which test a ability to understand the range of reading skills ‘meaning of written English at with a variety of texts, word, phrase, sentence, ranging from very short paragraph and whole text level. notices to longer continuous texts. Assessment of candidates’ ability to produce straightforward written writing: English, ranging from producing Three parts which test variations on simple sentences a range of writing skills. to pieces of continuous text. Paper 2 | Listening | 35 minutes | Four parts ranging from Assessment of candidates’ ability (approx.) | short exchanges to longer —_| to understand dialogues and dialogues and monologues in both informal and monologues. neutral settings on a range of everyday topics, Paper 3 | Speaking | 10-12 Four parts: ‘Assessment of candidates’ ability minutes | In Part 1, candidates to express themselves in order to perpair of | interact with an examiner; | carry out functions at candidates | In Parts 2 and 4 they Threshold level. To ask and to interact with another understand questions and make candidate; appropriate responses. To talk In Part 3, they have an freely on matters of personal extended individual long turn. | interest. Paper 1: Reading and Writing Paper format The Reading component contains five parts. The Writing component contains three parts. Number of questions Reading has 35 questions; Writing has seven questions. Sources Authentic and adapted-authentic real world notices; newspapers and magazines; simplified encyclopaedias; brochures and leaflets; websites. Answering Candidates indicate answers by shading lozenges (Reading), or writing answers (Writing) on an answer sheet. Timing 1 hour 30 minutes. Marks Reading: Each of the 35 questions carries one mark. This is weighted so that this comprises 25% of total marks for the whole examination.A guide to PET Writing: Questions 1-5 carry one mark each. Question 6 is marked out of five; and Question 7/8 is marked out of 15. This gives a total of 25 which represents 25% of total marks for the whole ‘examination. Preparing for the Reading component To prepare for the Reading component, you should read a variety of authentic texts, for example, newspapers and magazines, non-fiction books, and other sources of factual material, such as leaflets, brochures and websites. It is also a good idea to practise reading (and writing) short communicative messages, including notes, cards and emails. Remember you won't always need to understand every word in order to be able to do a task in the exam. Before the examination, think about the time you need to do each part. Itis usually approximately 50 minutes on the Reading component and 40 minutes on the Writing component. Reading Number of Part | Task Type and Format Task Focus questions 1 ‘Three-option multiple choice. Reading real-world notices and other | 5 Five short discrete texts: signs and short texts for the main message. messages, postcards, notes, emails, labels etc., plus one example. 2 Matching, Reading multiple texts for specific 5 Five items in the form of descriptions ot | information and detailed people to match to eight short adapted- | comprehension. authentic texts. 3 | TruerFalse. Processing a factual text. Scanning for | 10 Ten items with an adapted-authentic _| specific information while disregarding long text. redundant material. 4 Four-option multiple choice. Reading for detailed comprehension: | 5 Five items with an adapted-authentic | understanding attitude, opinion and long text. writer purpose. Reading for gist, inference and global meaning. 5 | Four-option multiple-choice cloze. Understanding of vocabulary and 10 Ten items, plus an integrated example, | grammar in a short text, and with an adapted-authentic text drawn | understanding the lexico-structural from a variety of sources. The text is of | patterns in the text. a factual or narrative nature. Preparing for the Writing component Part1 You have to complete five sentences which will test your grammar. There is an example, showing exactly what the task involves. You should write between one and three words to fill this gap. The second sentence, when complete, must mean the same as the first sentence. tis essential to spell correctly and no marks will be given if a word is misspelled. You will also lose the mark if you produce an answer of more than three words, even if your writing includes the correct answer. 6A guide to PET Part 2 You have to produce a short communicative message of between 35 and 45 words in length. You are told who you are writing to and why, and you must include three content points. These are clearly laid out with bullet points in the question. To gain top marks, all three points must be in your answer, so it is important to read the question carefully and plan what you will include. Marks will not be deducted for small errors. Before the exam, you need to practise writing answers of the correct length. Answers that are too short or too long will probably lose marks. The General Mark Scheme below is used with a Task-specific Mark Scheme (see pages 104, 117, 129 and 141). General Mark Scheme for Writing Part 2 Mark | Cri 5 All content elements covered appropriately. Message clearly communicated to reader. 4 All content elements adequately deatt with. Message communicated successfully, on the whole. 3 All content elements attempted. Message requires some effort by the reader. or ‘One content element omitted but others clearly communicated. 2 ‘Two content elements omitted, or unsuccessfully dealt with Message only partly communicated to reader. or Soript may be slightly short (20-25 words). 1 Little relevant content and/or message requires excessive effort by the reader, or short (10-19 words). 0 Totally irrelevant or totally incomprehensible or too short (under 10 words). Part 3 You have a choice of task: either a story or an informal letter. You need to write about 100 words for both tasks. Answers below 80 words will receive fewer marks. Answers longer than 100 words may receive fewer marks. Make sure you practise enough before the exam. Reading simplified readers in English will give you ideas for story writing. Also writing to a pentriend or e-pal will give you useful practice. Mark Scheme for Writing Part 3 Band 5 — the candidate's writing fully achieves the desired effect on the target reader. The use of language will be confident and ambitious for the level, including a wide range of structures and vocabulary within the task set. Coherence, within the constraints of the level, will be achieved by the use of simple linking devices, and the response will be well organised. Errors which do occur will be minor and non-impeding, perhaps due to ambitious attempts at more complex language. Overall, no effort will be required of the reader.A guide to PET Band 4 — the candidate's writing will achieve the desired effect on the target reader. The use of language will be fairly ambitious for the level, including a range of structures and vocabulary within the task set. There will be some linking of sentences and evidence of organisation. Some errors will occur, although these will be generally non-impeding. Overall, only a litle effort will be required of the reader. Band 3 - the candidate's writing may struggle at times to achieve the desired effect on the target reader. The use of language, including the range of structure and vocabulary, will be unambitious, or, if ambitious, it will be flawed. There will be some attempt at organisation but the linking of sentences will not always be maintained. A number of errors may be present, although these will be mostly non-impeding. Overall, some effort will be required of the reader. Band 2 the candidate's writing struggles to achieve the desired effect on the target reader. The use of language, including the range of structure and vocabulary, will tend to be simplistic, limited, or repetitive. The response may be incoherent, and include erratic use of punctuation. There will be numerous errors which will sometimes impede communication. Overall, considerable effort will be required of the reader. Band 1 — the candidate's writing has a negative effect on the target reader. The use of language will be severely restricted, and there will be no evidence of a range of structures and vocabulary. The response will be seriously incoherent, and may include an absence of punctuation. Language will be very poorly controlled and the response will be difficult to understand. Overall, excessive effort will be required of the reader. Band 0 - there may be too little language for assessment, or the response may be totally illegible; the content may be impossible to understand, or completely irrelevant to the task. Five items, plus an integrated example, that are theme-related. Candidates are given sentences and then asked to complete similar sentences using a different structural pattern so that the sentence stil has the same meaning. ‘Threshold/PET grammatical structures. Rephrasing and reformulating Writing Number of Part | Task Type and Format Task Focus questions 1 | Sentence transformations. Control and understanding of 5 ‘Short communicative message. Candidates are prompted to write a short message in the form of a posteard, note, email, etc. The prompt takes the form of a rubtic to respond to. ‘A short piece of writing of 35-45 words focusing on communication of specific, messages. ‘A longer piece of continuous writing. ‘There is a choice of two questions, an informal letter or a story. Candidates are primarily assessed on their ability to use and control a range of Threshold-level language. Coherent organisation, spelling and punctuation are also assessed. ‘Writing about 100 words focusing on control and range of language.A guide to PET Paper 2: istening Paper format This paper contains four parts. Number of questions 25 Text types All texts are based on authentic situations, Answering Candidates indicate answers either by shading lozenges (Parts 1, 2 and 4) or writing answers (Part 3) on an answer sheet. Candidates record their answers on the question paper as they listen. They are then given six minutes at the end of the test to copy these on to the answer sheet. Recording information Each text is heard twice. Recordings will contain a variety of accents corresponding to standard variants of native speaker accents. Timing About 35 minutes, plus six minutes to transfer answers. Marks Each question carries one mark. This gives a total of 25 marks, which represents 25% of total marks for the whole examination. Number of Part | Task Type and Format Task Focus questions 1 | Muttiple choice (discrete) Listening to identity key 7 ‘Short neutral or informal monologues information from short F dialogues. exchanges. Seven discrete three-option multiple-choice items with visuals, plus one example. 2 | Multiple choice. Listening to identify specific 6 Longer monologue or interview information and detailed | (with one main speaker) | meaning Six three-option multiple-choice items. | | 3 | Gapiil | Ustening to identity, understand | 6 | Longer monologue. and interpret information. | Six gaps to fll in. Candidates need to write one or more words in each space. 4 | TrerFalse. Listening for detailed meaning, 6 Longer informal dialogue. and to identity the attitudes and Candidates need to decide whether opinions of the speakers. six statements are correct or incorrectA guide to PET Preparing for the Listening paper You will hear the instructions for each task on the recording, and see them on the exam paper. In Part 1, there is also an example text and task to show you how to record your answers, In Parts 2, 3 and 4, the instructions are followed by a pause; you should read the questions in that part then. This will help you prepare for the listening. The best preparation for the listening paper is to listen to authentic spoken English at this level. Having discussions provides a good authentic source of listening practice, as does listening to the teacher. You can also listen to texts to give you practice in understanding different voices and styles of delivery. Paper 3: Speaking Paper format The standard format is two candidates and two examiners. One of the examiners acts as an interlocutor and the other as an assessor. The interlocutor directs the test, while the assessor takes no part in the interaction. Timing 10-12 minutes per pair of candidates. Marks Candidates are assessed on their performance throughout the test. There are a total of 25 marks in Paper 3, making 25% of the total score for the whole examination. Part | Task Type and Format Task Focus Timing 1 Each candidate interacts with the Giving information of a factual, personal | 2-3 interlocutor. kind. The candidates respond to minutes ‘The interlocutor asks the candidates questions about present circumstances, questions in tun, using standardised _| past experiences and future plans. questions. 2 Simulated situation. Candidates Using functional language to make and | 2-3 interact with each other. respond to suggestions, discuss minutes Visual stimulus is given to the alternatives, make recommendations candidates to aid the discussion task. | and negotiate agreement. The interlocutor sets up the activity using a standardised rubric. 3 Extended tum, Describing photographs and managing | 3 ‘A colour photograph is given to each _| discourse, using appropriate vocabulary, | minutes candidate in turn and they are asked to | ina longer tun. talk about it for up to a minute, Both photographs relate to the same topic. 4 General conversation. Candidates The candidates talk together about their | 3 interact with each other. opinions, likes/dislikes, preferences, minutes ‘The topic of the conversation develops | experiences, habits, ete. the theme established in Part 3. ‘The interlocutor sets up the activity using a standardised rubric. 10