UNIT 1 - FRIENDSHIP

PART 1 - VOCABULARY

1a. What do we need friends for? Match the words to the pictures. The first one has been
done for you

sharing; chatting; having fun; partying

(1) ________________
(2) _______________
(3) _______________
(4) ________________

1b. Words ending in -ing are often at the beginning and at the end of sentences. Put the four
words from exercise 1a in the correct sentences
(1) It is a difficult for young children, but they have to learn that friendship is about
____________________
(2) ______________ with friends is not something I do very often, but we always
celebrate our birthdays
(3) _________________ with friends is one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon.
We have so much to say that we often talk for hours.
(4) Even on bad days, being with my best friend means ______________________

WATCH OUT!

Although some verbs have very similar meanings, they are not always interchangeable; it
depends on the context. For example, we spend time with friends, or more formally, we
socialize with them; more informally, we hang out with them. If we participate in a specific
activity, such as a game or a sport, play is correct, e.g. playing chess
2. Which nouns go with which verbs? Copy and complete the table. Then answer the
questions below

chess; basketball; board games; sports; swimming; tennis; cards;

dancing; weight lifting; skiing; yoga; shopping; exercise; karate; poker;
puzzles; kickboxing; hiking

Play Go Do

(1) Which verb do you use most with activities ending in -ing?
(2) Which verb do you use most for competitive games?
(3) Which verb do you use most for other recreational activities?
3a. Read about how these people have fun. Underline all the words that refer to activities,
and circle the words that refer to places. Don’t use a dictionary yet.

3b. Find words in the texts above that match with these meanings
(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 \

PART 2: 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.
 1. Read the following text and then look at the questions on the next page

THE VALUE OF FRIENDSHIP

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.

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:
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.

Rory, 13:
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.

Carlos, 11:
Last year, I broke my arm on a skiing holiday. Unfortunately, it was my left arm and I am
left-handed. My school friends all helped and copied their notes for me.

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.

2. Try to answer this question yourself first, before reading the explanation. Choose the
best answer from the letters a-d
To teenagers, money is…
a. not important
b. as important as computer gadgets
c. as important as relationships with people
d. less important than friendships

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
3. Look at the questions in Exercise 4, without reading the answer options. Underline the
question words (e.g. where, when, what) and the key words in each of the questions (1-3)
and sentence stems (4-5)

4. Now answer these multiple-choice questions. Choose the appropriate letter a, b, c, or d

(1) Why are Ben, Rory and Carlos mentioned in the article?
a. They know why teenagers value friendship
b. They gave information about themselves
c. They read magazines
d. They are teenage boys

(2) Which of the following best describes Ben?

a. He often has fights
b. He likes being alone
c. He is happier than his friends
d. He likes some sports

(3) What do we know about the lake that Rory visits?

a. It is near the school
b. It is near his home
c. It is used by a lot of people who do water sports
d. It is in a village

(4) Carlos mentions that he is left-handed because…

a. it makes skiing harder
b. it makes it worse that he broke the arm he uses most
c. it is an interesting fact about himself and he was talking about his left arm
d. it is very unfortunate when you break your left arm

(5) The answers to the recent research and the answers from the readers…
a. were surprising
b. were the same
c. were similar
d. were both about sports

PART 3 - 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 next.
Questions 1-6
Choose the appropriate letters a, b, c or d
(1) How many friends do the majority of people probably have?
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

(2) It is difficult…
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’

(3) Friendship means…

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

(4) Sometimes people worry because..

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

(5) Most of us…

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

(6) What does ‘Strangers are friends we have not met yet’ mean?
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.

PROGRESS CHECK
How many boxes can you tick? You should work towards being able to tick them all
Did you…
( ) remember to underline the key words in the questions and look for them in the text?
( ) read only the parts of the text that you needed to?
( ) remember that the questions are in the same order as the information in the text?
( ) first skip a difficult question and then go back to it after you found the answer to the next
one?
( ) base your answers on the text, not on your own opinion?