PtE/IELts

IMMIGRANT'S

ENGLISH

IMMIGRANT'S

ENGLISH PTE/IELTS

SULTAN AZAM

Notion Press Old No. 38, New No. 6 McNichols Road, Chetpet Chennai - 600 031 First Published by Notion Press 2017 Copyright © Sultan Azam 2017 All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-1-946515-09-4 This book has been published with all reasonable efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the author. No part of this book shall be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The Author of this book is solely responsible and liable for its content including but not limited to the views, representations, descriptions, statements, information, opinions and references [“Content”]. The Content of this book shall not constitute or be construed or deemed to reflect the opinion or expression of the Publisher or Editor. Neither the Publisher nor Editor endorse or approve the Content of this book or guarantee the reliability, accuracy or completeness of the Content published herein and do not make any representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose. The Publisher and Editor shall not be liable whatsoever for any errors, omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause or claims for loss or damages of any kind, including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage arising out of use, inability to use, or about the reliability, accuracy or sufficiency of the information contained in this book.

Dedicated to Our Parents Without whom none of our success would be possible —Sultan Azam & Saema

Contents Acknowledgements

ix

Introduction

xi

SECTION 1

SPEAKING

Item 1: Read Aloud

3

Item 2: Repeat Sentence

11

Item 3: Describe Image

12

Item 4: Re-Tell Lecture

25

Item 5: Answer Short Questions

26

SECTION 2

WRITING

Item 1: Summarize Written Text

35

Item 2: Writing An Essay

37

SECTION 3

READING

Item 1: Multiple-Choice, Choose Single Answer

45

Item 2: Multiple-Choice, Choose Multiple Answers

46

Item 3: Re-Order Paragraphs (ROP)

47

Item 4: Fill in the Blanks, Single Choice

48

Item 5: Fill in the Blanks, Multiple Choice

49

SECTION 4

LISTENING

Item 1: Summarize Spoken Text

53

Item 2: Multiple-Choice, Choose Multiple Answers

54

Item 3: Fill In The Blanks

55

Item 4: Highlight Correct Summary

55

Item 5: Multiple-Choice, Choose Single Answer

56

viii Contents

Item 6: Select Missing Word

56

Item 7: Highlight Incorrect Words

57

Item 8: Write From Dictation

58

Other Tests

59

Practise Graphs

69–122

Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to thank Notion Press for giving me a platform through which I am able to share my experience with English skill testing exams. Without there nod it was an impossible task to share my journey. The support and experience shared by NP cannot be expressed in words. Furthermore, I would like to thank my parents who constantly support and encourage me, wherever I stand today is possible because of their love, guidance, and support for me throughout my life. The person I would like to thank most is my spouse who incepted the idea to document my struggle of clearing these exams, without her motivation this book was not possible. I would also like to thank my brother, sister, brother-in-law, my friend Rahul Bagaria & Suganya Kannan for sparing valuable assets towards the formulation of this book. Last but not the least, I would like to thank the multitude of people across my motherland India, who offered me support during this journey which enabled me steer clear across the ocean of English exams.

Introduction For the past two years I have been struggling with English Tests like IELTS and PTE for the sake of Emigration, for a better life style and more than anything realizing my dreams in the land down under. The process has been more tedious than imagined and the struggle to get the desired scores involved understanding the techniques and pattern of the exam rather than just preparing for the language as such. My first encounter with an English exam was in June 2014 with IELTS and after a lot of preparation I was able to score L 7.5 R 9.0 S 6.5 W 7.5. The results disappointed me and it was a huge setback in my personal aspirations, however, in the journey to pursue my personal goals I got in touch with some good companions who told me about PTE and advised that this exam is better than IELTS in terms of getting the required scores. I thought why not, let me give it a shot and after around eight weeks of preparation I managed to get the desired score, L 82 R 80 S 74 W 79 in Nov 2015 - With these scores I was able to start the engine of my dream journey and accelerated ahead. Having been in the place where a single exam could challenge your entire self both emotionally and physically I understand the agony the test takers would face. Hence I constantly stay in touch with fellow aspirants who face this huge hurdle to move forward. According to my observation the major problems in clearing these exams are: 1. 2. 3. 4.

These are taken mostly by persons who intend to emigrate. Around 70% of the test takers are working professionals. These working professionals are not able to give time for preparations due to engagements of family and office. So, how to do it???

If one is chasing a dream which no doubt is extra ordinary, then he/she has to do the preparations also extra ordinarily. It is not about struggling for hours in the preparations; it is just about giving one or two hours daily with conscious mind. That will do wonders. But within the sub-conscious mind the struggle should be the entire 24 hours, one shall eat, drink, sleep but still has to think about it, the day one is able to do this, that would be the day that person clears the exam with the desired score (This technique worked for me). The test is not about how good you are in English literature, it is more about how you are able to use English in day to day life, the whole point behind creation of these tests are that the intending emigrant should be able to converse smoothly with the native speakers of the new country and for this the emigrant has to be comfortable in English language, in all its different modules like reading, writing, listening or speaking. I think the latter two are mostly required in day to day life in an English speaking country.

xii Introduction

Let us start with PTE – Pearson Test of English. Personally I have high regards for this test as it paved way for me towards my new found dreams. I found it better over IELTS because it is more heterogeneous in comparison to IELTS. There is good number of questions of different genre, which analyses your English skills in a better way. For instance - In IELTS, speaking is more of an extempore, being given a random topic and asked to speak about it, that too in front of a new person. But in PTE there is variety of questions which allows us to speak freely in front of our old buddy – the personal computer who is our friend in day to day life. Let us see what PTE is actually about. Pearson Test of English - Academic tests four major aspects of communication done by a human with the use of English language. These aspects are reading, writing, listening and speaking. It is a CBT i.e. a Computer based test, which comprises testing of applicants on four skills that is reading, writing, listening and speaking. Overall score is awarded to the candidate based on the performance on all test items, each test has 72–90 items - scores received against each item contributes to overall score.

COMMUNICATIVE SCORES Listening, Reading, Speaking & Writing are the communicative skills scored in PTE. The questions used to test these skills also test sub skills. Scoring for these skills is also done on a scale of 10–90 points.

ENABLING SCORE The enabling skills measured are grammar, oral fluency, pronunciation, spelling, vocabulary, and written discourse. Scoring for these skills is also done on a scale of 10–90 points. The aforesaid enabling skills can be classified as understated: Grammar – Adequate use of language with respect to structure of words, phrases, clauses etc. Oral Fluency – Smooth, normal and native-like delivery of speech. Pronunciation – Speaking the words in a manner which is easily recognisable by dayto-day users of the language. Spelling – Writing of words as per the spelling rules. One spelling technique has to be followed consistently in a given response; it can be either British or American. Vocabulary – Choice of words suitable to explain the situation.

Introduction

xiii

Written discourse – It is visible in the forming up of a written text, the logical development of story, the ideas and coherence in the write up along with variety of linguistic resources (words, phrases, idioms etc.) to express the situation precisely.

TEST PATTERN The test takes approximately three hours to complete. This includes an un-timed introduction to the test and one optional scheduled break of 10 minutes. There are three timed parts: 1. 2.

Speaking and writing _______ 77 to 93 minutes Reading _______ 32 to 41 minutes Optional Break

3.

Listening _______ 45 to 57 minutes.

Section 1

ImmIgrant’s

English

Are you interested in migrating to another country?

Are you lacking the friendly assistance to crack the English exams? Immigrant’s English is all about how Sultan managed to sail through English tests – PTE/IELTS – the journey from a rookie to a book writer.

Sultan Azam – a professional civil engineer from NIT Tiruchirappalli with various stints in constructions across India decided to share his recent combat with the English language exams that he had taken. This journey has made him ardent enough to pen down the various complexities and the brass tacks of the PTE. He has, to his credit, many helpful advising instances to the test taking fraternity and many articulate blogs – 1ptetips.blogspot.in – on this matter. Sultan was born in Bhilai and has had his footprints across various parts of India. As a construction professional, he manages projects to be replicated on site as on the blueprints. Currently, he is living in Odisha along with his parents, spouse and daughter. Apart from his occupation and writing books, he enjoys watching comedy shows. Price 799