B1 Reading Part 2 is one of the exam tasks that aren’t only fun to do but are also fun to teach. Students read five short descriptions of people and match them with texts, all dealing with the same topic. Even though this exercise seems quite simple, it requires a lot of attention to detail and the identification of distractors.
Anyone who has been following me from the beginning knows that I love using free official resources to give my students some tips and tricks on how to complete the Cambridge exams successfully. If you like this plan, you may want to check out my previous post on Cambridge PET – Reading Part 1.
At the end of this post, you can download the worksheet with the lesson plan and all the (suggested) answers. This class was based on Reading Part 2, which can be found in either B1 Preliminary for Schools Handbook or Sample Papers for B1 Preliminary for Schools.
The class starts with a general group discussion on attending after-school or work courses. Ask some questions and get a general idea of why people might be interested in taking such courses. Shift the conversation to the topic of the class – cycling courses. Think about the popularity of such courses as a whole and also in students’ countries.
As Reading Part 2 looks at profiles of five different people, I thought that students may benefit from writing short descriptions about themselves. Before they do this part, put them into pairs and complete a questionnaire on their cycling experience and interests. Collect the answers and provide general speaking feedback.
To give a clearer example of what you want your students to do, complete the task yourself and present a short written description of your profile. I modelled my answer on the descriptions given in Reading Part 2. Analyse your text and ensure that students can see the connection between the answer and the questionnaire. As students form their descriptions, monitor the task and correct any spelling and grammar errors, as needed.
Joanna is an experienced cyclist. She enjoys riding a bicycle in the city, but she would like to find out more about road safety. She wants to learn alongside other bikers. As she works during the week, she can only attend the course once a week at the weekend.
Once everyone has their short descriptions ready, you can ask them to exchange them with their partners. Direct their attention to eight cycling courses, presented in exercise 3. Students need to read all the descriptions quickly and pick one that best matches their expectations. For example, the best course that matches my profile is D – Pedal Power. Underline the parts that correspond to your description and see explain how this is an exact match, as seen below.
Give some time to read all the texts and pick the ones that best fit each student. Students present the courses that best fit their needs and explain the reasons why they picked them. If this is the first time completing PET Reading Part 2, you may want to say what the task is about and how it should be handled. I think that making it personal, should make this exam task a bit more engaging and help students stay more focused during the explanation.
Obviously, in the exam students read about five random people in whom they may not be interested. Read Nancy’s profile. As a group, analyse what kind of person she is and what she wants her cycling course to look like. If students find this task a bit more challenging, you may want to go over all the courses one by one and eliminate them as needed. In the case of stronger groups, give them 3-4 minutes, and ask to find an ideal course for her. Underline all the pieces of information that match her description.
Students complete the rest of the exam task individually. Make sure that everyone underlines keywords and matches them with the phrases that best fit each description. Put students into pairs to compare and discuss the answers, and finish by confirming and justifying them by finding examples in the text.
Finish by eliciting and giving tips on how to complete this task to get the best results possible, for example, underlining keywords or checking the answers to make sure that they match the descriptions.
Click the Canva link to modify the worksheet as needed. If you are satisfied with the way it looks, click the link below to get the PDF version.
How do you use free resources in your class? What courses do you attend? What do you think about cycling courses?
JoannaESL 