Cambridge English: Preliminary

Lesson Plan: Reading

This lesson plan accompanies Cambridge English: Preliminary 7 Reading Test 4 Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

This lesson is suitable for students at the beginning, middle or towards the end of their Cambridge
English: Preliminary course.

This lesson is also suitable for any pre-intermediate course in order to solidify students’ skim and
scan reading skills.

Lesson Goals
1. To familiarise students with identifying key words in reading exam questions
2. To develop paraphrasing skills
3. To raise students’ awareness of common collocations
4. To practice skim and scan reading skills

Activity (see brackets for resources required) Time Interaction

needed
Warmer 5-10 mins

• Brainstorm the meaning of the words skim and scan. Elicit how 4 mins S-T
your students use these skills in their daily life (i.e. scan a bus
timetable, skim the front page of an online newspaper, etc.)
• Pair students to discuss possible uses of these skills in an exam 2 mins S-S
situation. Elicit a few of their ideas. then S-T

Part 1
• Groups students and with the answer options covered, ask them 4 mins Ss-Ss
to paraphrase the example text. They can take notes on the then S-T
question paper or in their exercise books (i.e. Ben’s bike is in our
garage, he wants to pick it up at 6. Could you open the garage for
him at that time?). Elicit why A is the correct answer and B and C
are incorrect.

Main activities (individual copies of Parts 1,2,3 and 4) 30-35 mins

• Put your students into five groups, and give them a question 3 mins Ss -Ss
each. Ask them to paraphrase their question and choose a
correct answer.
• Regroup your students to discuss their previous groups’ 3 mins Ss-Ss
paraphrased texts and possible answers.

Cambridge English: Preliminary 7 Reading Test 4 Lesson Plan

© Cambridge University Press and UCLES 2017
 • Elicit their ideas for Q1 to Q5 and tell them the correct answers. 1 min S-T

Part 2
• Tell your students to underline ‘with the sea’ and ‘lives of 2 mins T-S
women’ in Q6. Then ask them to scan the descriptions of the Then S-T
museums to find the one that mentions both (F).
• For Q7, elicit what your students think are the key words for 2 mins S -T
Melanie’s needs (i.e. her class, touch things and activities to do)
Give them the answer (C) and elicit why.
• Ask students to do the remaining three questions (Q8-Q10) 4 mins S
individually before you give them the answers. then T-S

Part 3
• Elicit what candidates have to do in this part (i.e. do the 3 mins S-T
sentences agree or disagree with the text) and tell your students
to underline the following words:
o Q11 – lived
o Q12 – rarely, to sell all
o Q13 – enough money
o Q14 – encouraged
o Q15 – people stopped to chat.
Give them the answers (B), (A), (B), (B) and (A) and elicit why (i.e.
Q11 ‘home in Swaffham’ not ‘lived in Norwich’).
• Ask students to do the remaining questions and elicit their 3 mins S
answers then S-T

Part 4
• Put your students into four groups and give each group one of 4 mins S-S
the answers to Q21. Ask them to scan the entire text to find then S-T
anything that supports or doesn’t support their answer (i.e.
answer A - early life is discussed, but not in reference to her
entire career) Elicit why C is the correct answer.
• Ask students to do the remaining questions and then pair them 7 mins S
to discuss their answers. then S-S
• Discuss their answers in terms of why they are incorrect (i.e. Q22 3 mins T-S
(A) do well not do better, (B) - she spent a lot of time ice-skating -
not too much (D) - not mentioned).

Extension activity (individual copies of Resource 1 and Part 5) 15 mins

Part 5
• Ask students to cover the answers and focus on the example. 4 mins Ss-Ss
Briefly elicit what students have to do in this part of the test. Pair then S-T
students and give them Resource 1. Ask them to look at the
words surrounding the gaps for Q26 - Q35 and write in the

Cambridge English: Preliminary 7 Reading Test 4 Lesson Plan

© Cambridge University Press and UCLES 2017
 correct question number in the space provided. Elicit their
answers.
• Ask students to choose a correct answer for each question 6 mins S
individually and then elicit their answers. then S-T
• Put your students into four groups and give each group the four 3 mins Ss-Ss
choices to Q31 (i.e. have, make, get, take). Ask them to
brainstorm and write down as many possible collocations for
each word as they can in a time limit.
• Regroup students to discuss their ideas 2 mins Ss-Ss

Cambridge English: Preliminary 7 Reading Test 4 Lesson Plan

© Cambridge University Press and UCLES 2017
Resource 1
Look at the words surrounding the gaps for Q26 - Q35 in Part 5. Discuss what could be a possible
answer with your partner and then choose the correct question number accordingly.

Question A B C D
Number
A arriving B attracting C approaching D arranging

A totally B exactly C actually D finally

A pours B falls C sinks D lowers

A case B turn C fact D time

A any B no C some D little

A fail B lose C miss D lack

A by B at C to D in

A those B these C them D they

A as B that C when D than

A have B make C get D take

Cambridge English: Preliminary 7 Reading Test 4 Lesson Plan

© Cambridge University Press and UCLES 2017
Test 4
PAPER 1 READING AND WRITING TEST (1 hour 30 minutes)

READING

Part 1
Questions 1–5
Look at the text in each question.
What does it say?
Mark the correct letter A, B or C on your answer sheet.

Example: What does Jake need to do?

0 A open the garage when Ben arrives so
he can get his bike

B look in the garage and let Ben know if

his bike is there

C get Ben’s bike out of the garage and

take it to him

Answer: A B C
0   

1 A You need to phone Sophie if you want

to come to this event.

B Anyone wanting to take part in running

this event should sign the notice.

C People who can attend this event

should put their names on the notice.

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 Reading

2 The main purpose of this email is

A to invite people to display goods at an
exhibition.

B to explain booking details for a show.

C to provide information about an event.

3 Aziz wants Abdul to

A take his homework to college for him.

B call their college to say that he is not

well.

C pick up any new homework given out at

college today.

This label gives advice on

4 A how to store the product.

B how to use the product.

C how to open the product.

5 A Only people who are trained in kitchen

work should apply for these part-time
jobs.

B There are part-time opportunities for

people without experience of working in
a kitchen.

C We offer cheap meals to people who

work part-time in our kitchen.

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Test 4

Part 2
Questions 6–10
The people below all want to visit a museum.
On the opposite page there are descriptions of eight museums.
Decide which museum would be the most suitable for the following people.
For questions 6–10, mark the correct letter (A–H) on your answer sheet.

6 Jake and Maureen have different interests but want to go

somewhere they will both enjoy. Jake loves anything to do
with the sea, while Maureen’s interested in social history and
the lives of women.

7 Melanie is a history teacher. She wants to take her class to a

museum where they will be allowed to touch things and have
activities to do during their visit.

8 Roger is keen to find out about different forms of transport in

towns over the last hundred years. He would like to attend a
talk while he is at the museum.

9 Kazuko studies English literature and thinks that seeing where

writers lived will help her understand their books better. She
finds it useful to look at pictures which are connected with
the books.

10 Nick is more interested in learning about the countryside than

learning about people from the past. He needs information for
some schoolwork he is doing about what happens to rivers
and hills over time.

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 Reading

Recommended Museums in the Area

A Red House B Castle Museum
Travel back to the time of the novelist The castle was built looking down
Charlotte Brontë and find out about her on the valley of the River Dean. It is
friends and local connections. Discover now a museum, where you can learn
the comforts and discomforts of the 1830s how the valley has changed over
country home where Charlotte sometimes millions of years. There is a collection
stayed as a guest of Joshua Taylor’s family of interesting rocks and fossils found
and got ideas for her novel Shirley. in the area, and pictures showing
how the valley probably looked in
prehistoric times.

C Hillcrest Museum D Shandy Hall

Enjoy an experience of digging up the Here in the 1760s, Laurence Sterne wrote
past. Handle pieces of ancient pots, tools Tristram Shandy. His fifteenth-century
and other objects from many countries. house is now surrounded by a large
Learn to date them and see what they tell garden full of beautiful and unusual plants.
us about how people lived then. Also try Inside there is an important collection of
out computer programs which help plan Sterne’s novels plus the original drawings
the digging-up of sites. School groups which were included in his works.
should book in advance.

E Museum of Peace F Fishing Centre

Situated in beautiful Study the routes used by fishermen
countryside, this is the only over the last two hundred years and see
museum of its kind in the how their ocean-going boats worked.
country. It has a growing A new exhibition explores the position
collection of art and objects of wives and mothers in the old fishing
connected with peace history, towns, giving information about their
non-violence and the ending of occupations, and their attitudes to work
war. It also has material which and home.
can be used after the visit back
in the classroom.

G Viking Centre H Horsepower Museum

Come and experience what life was like This museum reminds us just how important
1,200 years ago in this Viking town, rebuilt horses were to life in the nineteenth and
at the mouth of the river. Our introductory early twentieth centuries. It has a permanent
talk will inform you about the close exhibition of old trams and buses, which used
relationship the Vikings had with the sea – to be pulled through the streets by horses.
they were excellent fishermen, sailors and The staff here are very knowledgeable and give
boat-builders. There are also tools, clothes daily lectures on this fascinating collection
and everyday items to look at.

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Test 4

Part 3
Questions 11–20
Look at the sentences below about John Chapman, an Englishman who lived in the 15th
century.
Read the text on the opposite page to decide if each sentence is correct or incorrect.
If it is correct, mark A on your answer sheet.
If it is not correct, mark B on your answer sheet.

11 In 1440, John Chapman lived in Norwich.

12 John rarely managed to sell all his goods at the market.

13 John and his wife had enough money to live comfortably.

14 John’s wife encouraged him to make the journey to London.

15 People stopped to chat to John while he was standing on London Bridge.

16 John was disappointed by what the old man told him.

17 John’s wife realised why he was digging a hole under the tree.

18 The writing on the box was in a language that was foreign to John.

19 The second container was buried directly under the first.

20 The people of Swaffham benefitted from John’s good luck.

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 Reading

John Chapman
The atmosphere in the market place in Norwich in 1440 was
probably not very different from how it is today – noisy, crowded,
colourful and exciting. It was here that John Chapman used to come
each week from his home in Swaffham, 50 kilometres away, to try to
sell his copper pots and pans.

After one particularly tiring day, he loaded his unsold pots and pans
onto the back of his horse as usual and walked slowly home. He had
a meal and went to bed, complaining bitterly to his wife about their
lack of money. However, that night John had a dream that would
change the rest of his life.

In this dream a man told John that if he stood on London Bridge he would hear something
that would make him rich. The dream was so real that John couldn’t get it out of his mind,
and finally he decided to make the journey, even though his wife was against the idea.

After a week’s preparation, John set off for London with just his dog for company. When he
arrived at London Bridge he stopped and watched all the men and women who went past.
Many of them talked to him, but he heard nothing that would make him rich.

On the third day, however, an old man asked him why he was standing there. John told him
it was because of a dream. The old man replied, ‘I recently dreamed that I went to the home
of John Chapman, in Swaffham, and dug under a tree at the back of his house, where I found
a buried pot of gold! But I am not foolish enough to believe in dreams.’

Unable to believe his luck, John said goodbye and returned to Swaffham. As soon as he got
home, he fetched a spade and started digging. His wife looked on in amazement, unable
to understand what he was doing. But sure enough, he uncovered a box. Opening it with
nervous hands he found that it was full of money. The couple were delighted, but also
curious about some words on the lid, which were in a language they didn’t recognise. Keen
to find out their meaning, John put the box in his window and soon two young men knocked
on the door and translated them for him: Beneath me lies another one much richer. So John
dug deeper and this time found a huge pot full of gold and jewels!

That is how John Chapman became rich. He spent the money wisely and paid for several
public buildings to be built. And his memory lives on in Swaffham today, on the painted
sign at the entrance to the town!

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Test 4

Part 4
Questions 21–25
Read the text and questions below.
For each question, mark the correct letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet.

Anna Gomez
Anna Gomez is a successful TV sports
presenter, but most people still think of her
as the famous women’s ice-skating champion
who won several important competitions
when she was younger. ‘As a child, my dream
was actually to become a ballet dancer – I
didn’t own any skates until I was nine, and
didn’t become really keen on skating until
I was fourteen,’ says Anna. She went on to
university where, despite ice-skating almost all
the time, she left with an excellent degree. ‘I
felt I owed it to my parents. They supported me through university, and expected
me to do well there – I didn’t feel I could disappoint them.’
In a sport where most stars become famous as teenagers, Anna was unusual in
being in her twenties before she won any major titles. ‘When I was younger, I got
very angry at competitions, shouting at judges if I disagreed with them. That made
me unpopular, especially with other skaters. My technique was just as good as
theirs and I had a very encouraging coach at the time. The problem was in my head
– I just didn’t think I had what it takes to be a champion. That changed as I won
more competitions, and I was performing at my best by the age of twenty-five.’
Anna retired from professional ice-skating five years later, having achieved great
success during that period. ‘It was a difficult decision. As you get near the end of
your career, people always ask when you’re going to stop. At the time, I wasn’t sure
that I was actually ready to give up. But, looking back, I’m glad I stopped when I
did. You shouldn’t think too much about the past – just move on to the next thing.’

21 What is the writer doing in the text?

A discussing the influence of Anna’s early life on her career
B giving Anna’s reasons for choosing to become a TV presenter
C describing the progress of Anna’s professional life in sport
D explaining why Anna was such a successful ice-skater

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 Reading

22 What do we learn about Anna’s time at university?

A Her parents expected her to do better in her studies.
B She spent too much time ice-skating.
C She managed to get good results.
D Her parents wanted her to keep up her ice-skating.

23 Why does Anna believe she failed to win competitions as a teenager?

A She annoyed too many people.
B She was not confident enough in her ability.
C She needed to improve her technique.
D She did not have the right coach.

24 What does Anna say about her retirement from skating?

A She has no regrets about giving up when she did.
B She had wanted to stop for a long time.
C She was persuaded by others that she should retire.
D She missed some things about her life as an ice-skater.

25 Which of the following appeared on a website about Anna?

A B
TV presenter and former
Anna Gomez, 20, achieves her
sportswoman Anna Gomez
life-long ambition of becoming
announces her return to
the national women’s ice-
professional ice-skating after
skating champion.
five years.

C D
Teenage star Anna Gomez wins After five years at the top, ice-
another top title, and thanks her skating star Anna Gomez retires
many friends in the ice-skating and takes up a new job in
world. television.

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Test 4

Part 5
Questions 26–35
Read the text below and choose the correct word for each space.
For each question, mark the correct letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet.

Example:
0 A known B named C called D thought

Answer: A B C D
0    

The Driest Place on Earth

The Atacama Desert in Chile is (0) as the
driest place on Earth. It is almost 1,000 kilometres
(26) length, lying between the Pacific
Ocean and the Andes mountains. Under a centimetre
of rain (27) annually, and the centre is so
dry (28) scientists have never recorded
(29) rain there.
Over a million people (30) live in the
Atacama today. Most live on the coast, which is also
home to teams of astronomers who are there to
(31) advantage of the clear skies. In the north, farmers grow tomatoes with
water they have collected from underground rocks. However, for (32) who
have their farms on higher ground, the water comes from melting snow.
People generally seem to (33) knowledge about what the desert has to offer,
but in (34) , there is plenty to do – from seeing the amazing natural sights to
playing golf, one of the more recent activities (35) tourists to the region.

26 A by B at C to D in
27 A pours B falls C sinks D lowers
28 A as B that C when D than
29 A any B no C some D little
30 A totally B exactly C actually D finally
31 A have B make C get D take
32 A those B these C them D they
33 A fail B lose C miss D lack
34 A case B turn C fact D time
35 A arriving B attracting C approaching D arranging

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 Test 4

Test 4

PAPER 1 READING AND WRITING

READING
Part 1
1 C 2 C 3 A 4 A 5 B
Part 2
6 F 7 C 8 H 9 D 10 B
Part 3
11 B 12 A 13 B 14 B 15 A 16 B 17 B 18 A 19 A 20 A
Part 4
21 C 22 C 23 B 24 A 25 D
Part 5
26 D 27 B 28 B 29 A 30 C 31 D 32 A 33 D 34 C 35 B

WRITING

Part 1
1 less
2 I would/I’d
3 difficult/hard (at all)
4 learn/find out/discover/teach yourself/be taught
5 during
Part 2
Task-specific Mark Scheme
The content elements that need to be covered are:
i information about what new clothes candidate bought
ii reference to where candidate bought clothes
iii reason why candidate needed to buy these clothes.
The following sample answers can be used as a guide when marking.

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