forte = strong point or speciality

Tips for the IELTS Speaking Section

Before going into the room, take three DEEP breaths!

Do not worry about mistakes - everybody makes them! Instead, think about communicating well.

Do not worry about your accent. Just speak clearly.

Avoid slang or very informal language. We only use such language with our close friends.

Say NAMES slowly. If you say a name in your own language, you MUST explain it!

Do NOT use difficult words or expressions unless you are 100% sure you know how to use them right. If you use words at the wrong time, your score will be lower!

Make good, clear sentences to express your meaning.

Do not speak either too fast nor too slow.

You cannot ask questions on Part 1 or Part 2, but you SHOULD ask questions on Part 3 if you do not understand.

Do not change the topic. The examiner will think you cannot speak enough on that topic and will give you a lower score.

If you don't know much about a topic, talk about something related to that topic, then explain the connection.

Do not memorize answers to prepare for the test. The examiner will hear that you are not speaking naturally and will change the topic.

Practice speaking with a watch. You should use about 4 minutes for each part of the Speaking Test.

• Practice speaking with a friend. Your friend can surprise you with all kinds of questions.

Digged from Learn English with Teatcher Joe
这个是从一个雅思考官的网站上摘过来的。

TOEFL SPEAKING question 3 (4samples)

YOU WILL FIND THE ANNOUNCEMENT JUST A LITTLE FURTHER DOWN, AFTER THE INSTRUCTIONS. Here are 4 sample questions for the TOEFL IBT 3rd speaking section. As you probably know, the speaking part of t...

YOU WILL FIND THE ANNOUNCEMENT JUST A LITTLE FURTHER DOWN, AFTER THE INSTRUCTIONS.


Here are 4 sample questions for the TOEFL IBT 3rd speaking section. As you probably know, the speaking part of the test is divided into 6 different sections. The following video deals with the THIRD section (Read, listen and summarize).

This question requires you to read an announcement and to listen to a conversation between two students as they discuss the announcement. Oddly enough, one of the passages here involves only one student ranting about the announcement. But the question remains the same; what does he/she thinks and why?

That question is fairly easy since all you have to do is read and listen carefully, take notes about both the text and the conversation and then regurgitate the information using your own words. You MUST NOT add any information of your own. You simply have to stick with the information provided to you by the test and add nothing else.

I suggest you structure your answer using the following pattern:

1: Quickly sum up the content of the announcement
2: Clearly state the position of the man or woman (depending on the question)
3: Give 2 reasons/arguments why they think the way they do.
4: Give details (examples) that the students use to illustrate their arguments.
5: End up with a neat concluding sentence (that is why the man thinks the library should kind of thing!)



HERE ARE THE ANNOUNCEMENTS


1) Closure for the Evening Class


With the decrease of students interested in the evening class, the university decided to discontinue it. This decision was made because the number of students for the evening class has declined for the past few years and more students prefer to study with an experienced faculty member. Students who already registered for the evening class are required to change their schedule, or refunds will be applicable for those who cannot meet the schedule.




2) Welcome, Freshman Students!


As of September 1st, unlike last year, the university has decided to change its plan from holding freshmen orientation for all students it giving them the option of either going on a campus hiking tour or participating in games. This change has been decided by the student committee since the number of participants was relatively low in previous years. The university hopes that this change will give the students opportunities to interact with fellow freshmen and reduce the tension of coming to the new school with new surroundings.




3) Plan to Enlarge the Library


We plan to enlarge the library by 20 000 square feet and the space would be devoted to increased shelf space for printed materials and more desks for students. The university plans to transform the main library into a learning and information center that will fulfill promise to offer the best possible environment for academic success and high achieving students in the 21st century. The work is expected to begin in early February and it will be completed next year.




4) Library Renovation plan


In June 2007, a one year renovation of the main library began. When the renovation is completed, the IT center will be equipped with computers with the latest technology and space for quiet talks. Additionally, the room will be accessible for 24 hours. All floors including the lobby, halls and entrances, will come together with a light colored wooden floor and it will be brightened up with the newly painted walls.


Here is the link to the PDF speaking scoring grid
www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/Speaki ng_Rubrics.pdf

It will give you a good idea of what they use to grade you

一个转折句

However, there was one big dark cloud on ones blue sky, and that was that ...

谚语系列（一）

Proverbs: money

Money burns a hole in your pocket.

You spend your money too quickly.

All that glitters (is not gold).

Don't judge something by its appearance. It may look like it's worth a lot of money but it might actually be quite cheap.

Money talks.

People who are rich have more power and influence than people who are poor.

Don't count your chickens (before they hatch).

You shouldn't spend money (or make plans) based on what you expect to have (or happen) in the future.

Where there's muck (there's brass).

You can earn a lot of money if you don't mind getting a bit dirty.

先猜猜意思吧...

感谢Xu同学供稿

5个开始

debut

inaugurate

commence

embark

initiate

Types of Government

Monarchy（君主政体）

Republic（共和政体）

Democracy（民主政体）

Dictatorship（独裁）

三种才

1. talented people 人才
2. prodigy 鬼才
3. genius 天才

Suffix-ish

1. n. My clothes have a punkish look. ( especially)
2. a. My hair is greenish.(a lot)
3. time The class starts at sixish.( about, approximately)
4. age I am thirtyish.( about, approximately)

Prefer的用法

prefer用法

1. prefer+名词

——Would you like meat or fish?

——I‘d prefer meat，please。

2．prefer+动名词

Do you prefer cooling for yourself ,or eating in a restaurant?

自己做饭还是喜欢下馆子？

——Do you like swimming?你喜欢游泳吗？

——Yes, but I prefer saling.喜欢，但我更喜欢驾驶帆船。

3．prefer+不定式

Do you prefer to cook for yourself, or to eat in a restaurant?

I prefer to spend the weekend at home.我喜欢在家里度周末。

I would prefer to stay at home tonight.

She prefers to be alone.

4．Prefer sb to do sth

Their father prefers them to be home early.他们的父亲宁愿他们早点回家。

I thought you would prefer me not to knock.

5.prefer A to B

在本句型中，A与B是平行结构，可以是名词，也可以都是动名词。例如：

I prefer dogs to cats.在狗与猫之间我更喜欢狗。

Most people prefer trains to buses.大多数人愿意坐火车而不愿坐汽车。

I prefer writing a term paper to taking an examination.

我宁愿写一篇学期论文也不愿参加考试。

I prefer staying at home to going ou.我觉得在家里比出去好。

Thousands of children nowadays prefer doing their homework to a background of pop-music to doing it in a quiet room.

成千上万的孩子如今一边听流行音乐一边做作业，也不愿在安安静静的房间里做。

She has always preferred marking her own clothes rather than buying them in the shops.

她向来喜欢自己做衣服，而不到商店里去买衣服

6．Prefer+不定式+rather than+不定式

1) 本句型中，第一个不定式前面要加to，第二个不定式前面以不加to居多。例如：

He prefer to die rather than become traitor.她宁死也不做叛徒。

Older people often fear change. They know what they can do best. They prefer to repeat their successes rather than risk failure.

年纪大的人常常怕变化。他们知道什么最拿手，宁愿把自己成功的经验在如法炮制而不愿冒失败的危险。

She preferred to sew rather than to knit.她喜欢缝纫而不喜欢编织。

2)rather than 也可以至于句首：

Rather than buy a car of his own, he prefers to rent one.

3） than后也可用动名词：

I prefer to stay at home rather than go/going to see a film.

我觉得与其去看电影倒不如呆在家里。

I would prefer to spend the weekend at home rather than drive/driving all the way to your mother’s.

我觉得与其开车跑那么远的路到你母亲那里度周末，到布热在家里过更好些。

4） prefer …rather than 中的rather也可以移到第一个不定式之前（prefer rather…than），这种用法多见于书面语。例如：

He preferred rather to take the whole blame himself than to allow it to fall on the innocent. 她宁可自己承担全部责任而不愿让无辜的人受到连累。

5） prefer to do A rather than do B 意义相同，试比较：

Joe prefers skating to skiing.

Joe prefer to skate rather than ski.

Bill preferred playing soccer to swimming.

Bill preferred to play soccer rather than swim.

He preferred rating a car to having one of his own.

He prefers to rent a car rather than to have one of his own.

他宁愿租车也不愿买车。

6） 用prefer…rather than代替prefer…to连接名词的情形偶尔也可见到。如：

Mr. Brunner prefers chemistry rather than physics.

有人认为两者的区别是：prefer…to表示一般的倾向，prefer…rather than则表示在某种具体场合的选择。如:

What shall we have to drink, port or sherry? 我们该喝什么呢？

I should prefer port rather than sherry. 我宁愿和红葡萄酒而不合雪利酒。

7） prefer + that从句

Would you prefer that I come on Monday instead of on Tuesday?

你宁愿让星期一来而不是星期二来吗

I prefer that someone else should do this.

我觉得还是让别人来做这件事比较好。

一个翻译

威客模式及其面临的问题
Witkey model and the problems that it faces

Sayings

The best way to get to know the city is to visit it on foot. （Travel）

The first step to knowledge is to know that we are ignorant. （Knowledge)

Nurture is above nature.(Education)

推荐一个句子

Basically your imagination is the only limit.

两个等号

video survelillance = closed-circuit TV（= CCTV ）闭路电视,监视器。 没错cctv在英文里基本是这个意思。

halls of recidence = living quaters 居住或栖息的；常用于复合词：住宅。

-----------------------均来自于雅思听力材料

Harbour&Port

都有港口之意，来说说差别。

Harbour: a physical concept, a shelter for ships

Port: an economic concept, a centre of land-sea exchange which requires good access to a hinterland even more than a sea-linked foreland

一个表达

那时候，我脑子一片空白。

At that time, my mind went totally blank.

速记

掌握一定的速记方法是很有益处的。

1）能看懂新兴人类的短信和网络用语...

2）听力考试的时候能节省时间。

3）...

举几个例子，仅供参考——真正速记的话还是得根据个人的喜好来，可以创造一套自己的速记词。（个人认为了速记而去学习所谓的速记词汇大全是没有多大意义的）

B4 before

4ever forever

2B to be

CU see you

CUL8r see you later

Gr8 great

tmw tomorrow

ASAP as soon as possible

pls please

THX thanks

OIC oh, i see

...

talktive&sb. likes to talk

talktive用来形容自己可以，但是形容别人的话就显得不太得体了。

这时用somebody likes to talk比较礼貌。

几个表示娱乐的词

amusement n.

disport v. n.

distraction n.

entertainment n.

fun n.

pastime n.

recreation n.

几个表示Important的说法

记得之前上雅思写作课的时候老师强调过避免和不用简单词汇。

所以对这些经常使用的简单词就比较留意了。

然而在写作中表示重要的词是出现频率很高的，这里就稍稍整理了一点。（欢迎补充）

important

of crucial importance（中间的crucial是可以替换的，比如 of extreme importance）

crucial

critical

essential

irreplaceable

markedly&rapidly......

先看这句话

"The jobs picture among smaller manufacturers has deteriorated markedly since last July in the face of rapidly declining demand for UK-made goods at home and abroad"（摘自BBC)

markedly和rapidly是副词，也是同义词

其实副词是比较重要的。副词总是能让我们的语句更加丰富多彩。比如常用的

excellent,wonderful，fabulous, marvelous,extremely....

英文文章同中文的一样，讲究同义词的替换。目的都是为了避免单调重复。

所以对于英文单词的记忆是不能停留在基础的单词记忆。

这时候所谓的意群法就出现了。说白了就是把同义词放在一块来记。

按照老俞的话来说，光记住一个单词而不知道其同义词与反义词是没有多少意义的。

这里抛开反义不说，个人认为对于口头表达与写作的话，对同义词的掌握是尤为重要的。

因为大多数情况下我们需要用较多的篇幅来表达同意一个意思。

PS:总结一些同义副词(持续整理更新中）

markedly

rapidly

speedily

apparently

patently

plainly

evidently

manifestly

obviously

ostensibly

seemingly

ultimately

eventually (源自拉丁语evenire发生）

lastly

finally

ABC

Look at Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. They said: This is what it's going to be.

—John F. Welch, Jr.
Former Chairman and CEO
General Electric Corporation