CRE Use of English Exam Outline and Practical Preparation

1. CRE Use of English Exam Outline and Practical Preparation ILC WORKSHOP

2. The Questions 40 MC questions in 45 mins Reading Comprehension [10] Error Identification [10] Sentence Completion [10] Paragraph Improvement [10]

3. BASICS Published practice material? No! Use GMAT/GRE/TOEFL material The top score in CRE Use of English [level 2]is equivalent to 6.5 IELTS [6+ all sections]

4. Timing About 1 minute per question + 5 minutes reading time Decide which question types YOU need to spend more time on (individual variation) Practice a timed mock test 2 or 3 times before sitting the examination.

5. Sentence Completion 10 questions Use of English- grammar Identify grammar area tested Tenses. Agreement. Articles. Infinitive/gerund. Parallel structure. Relative pronouns. Clauses�

6. Error Identification- 10 questions. CRE website example question . Irrespective for the outcome of the probe, the whole sorry affair has already cast a shadow over this man�s hitherto unblemished record as a loyal servant to his country. Irrespective for B. sorry C.cast D. Hitherto E. No Error [bnc] British National Corpus Use the bnc site for discovering usual associations of nouns/ adj/ verbs with prepositions. Useful for preparation for error identification.

7. Further practice The document in the Mock CRE Test practice materials box entitled Error Identification in Sentences can be used to add sentence making exercises to your practice. Remember that any practice materials available through the ILC are NOT based on the real exam- no one publishes old exam papers as yet. We have tried to help you by analysing the examples from the website and by adapting material for other examinations.

8. Reading Comprehension TIPS AND STRATEGIES FOR READING COMPREHENSION 10 MC questions. Probably one passage. Familiarise yourself with the passage, paying attention to the main idea and the structure. Use skim, scan and rapid reading techniques. Identify the topic sentence(s) in paragraphs. Read the question, find the lead/key words, make sure you understand what is being asked. Use lead words and line references in the questions to quickly find the relevant part of the passage. �

9. Re-read about five lines above and below a line reference. Mentally form your own answer. Eliminate flaws in the suggested answers: use a Process Of Elimination (POE) Sort the good from bad answers: Focus on identifying flaws rather than �nearly right� answers. Half wrong = wrong. Be wary of extreme words: must, no, all, everywhere, never Re-read about five lines above and below a line reference. Mentally form your own answer. Eliminate flaws in the suggested answers: use a Process Of Elimination (POE) Sort the good from bad answers: Focus on identifying flaws rather than �nearly right� answers. Half wrong = wrong. Be wary of answers that reproduce a lot of the passage or repeat parts of the passage � they are often traps. Check answers/questions related to the same relevant part of the passage � misleading answers may use the passage phraseology. Note that extreme, contemptuous or socially unacceptable answer choices are nearly always wrong.

10. ADDITIONAL PRACTICE MATERIALS AVAILABLE IN ILC � The following practice materials to help candidates prepare for the CRE Reading Comprehension section has been selected from the published practice materials for examinations including TOEFL, GRE and GMAT examinations. CALL No. Title Author/Publisher PE 1126 M333 The Heinemann TOEFL Preparation Course, Duffy and Mahnke, (1996) PE 1128 H46 Barron�s TOEFL Strategies , Hinkel, (1998) HF 1118 O33 The Official Guide for GMAT Review, ETS 9th ed. (1999) LB 2367.4 C73 The Princeton Review Cracking the GRE , Lurie, Pecsenye & Robinson w. Ragsdale, (2007)

11. Paragraph Improvement 10 Questions @12 minutes Time yourself in practice sessions Probably a very time consuming part of test. Look for: parallel structure, genre & style, repetition, inference and attitude, cause/effect etc, tense/ agreement, change of topic� and use a POE-process of elimination. You are looking for the best out of several possibly acceptable answers. Some [obviously unacceptable] options may make a grammatically incorrect passage.

12. Paragraph Improvement Read the short paragraph carefully. You need to use hints from the context to eliminate the LESS CORRECT options. Look for the topic sentence. Get the main idea and pay attention to the linking words. Study the suggested changes within the given paragraph paying careful attention to relationships between s/v etc.

15. ILC � practice resources http://www.ilc.cuhk.edu.hk/english/elearning.htm http://www.ieltspractice.com/reading.html MOCK CRE Test Box with papers and exercises.

16. Advanced Grammar in Use (2005) English Vocabulary in Use � Upper-intermediate and advanced level (2005) Collins Cobuild �Confusable Words� (1993) Webster�s New World �Power Vocabulary�, 2nd edition, 1994. http://ec.hku.hk/vocabulary/tutorial/index1.asp

17. Resources TOEFL CBT and iBT preparation books cover most of the same type of exercises at the same level. Useful for Reading Comprehension and Error ID. See useful resources in the ILC. GMAT, GRE and some IELTS preparation materials are also helpful. Govt. reading- see www.gov.hk for samples of news releases, statements and many documents. See also for BLT preparation.

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