Get Ready for the CAP

How to identify question types and decide on test-taking strategies accordingly for the Comprehensive Assessment Program 因材網國中小英語文領域 2022暑期線上課程

 

I devised a two-hour online course, sponsored by Adaptive Learning, to help students better prepare for the coming entrance exam, targeting listening and reading comprehension.

 

Listening Comprehension

 

Students should be able to predict what the dialogue is about and then decide on the correct response after two listens:Preview the photos/choices

•      Predict the dialogue
•      Pay attention to keywords
•           Identify the questions
•      Take notes
•      Cross out the wrong choices
•      Use the time between the first and second listen

 

Vocabulary, Grammar, and Verb Tenses

 

Students should master their vocab words and sentence patterns and then use the following as cues:

•      Collocations- how words are put together in contexts
•      Grammar and context clues- both are essential for selecting the correct answers
•      Differences in verb tenses- will appear multiple times

 

Can not emphasize the importance of verb tenses, especially the past and present perfect, along with verb formation.

 

Reading Comprehension

 

Students are required to read a variety of articles and infographics to retrieve and comprehend important information so that they can also make inferences. The five main question types include:

 

•      main idea
•           supporting details
•      context clues
•      making inferences
•      word guessing

 

With an article that I wrote, the participants practiced finding the correct answers and categorizing reading strategies such as:

 

•      skimming- reading for main ideas while skipping details
•      scanning- moving your eyes quickly to find answers to questions
•      chunking- reading with meaningful units instead of separate words
•      summarizing- looking for the topic sentences from each paragraph
•      synthesizing- bringing old ideas together to make a new one
•      guessing- identifying the best definition with context clues

 

Knowing how to use the skills only accounts for 15 % or less of your success, based on my personal experience with TOEIC. Mastering your vocab words and grammar, complete with loads of reading input, will make the ultimate difference. At the end of the class, I kept wishing them a fruitful school year and the best of luck to get into their dream senior high school next year.