Then → now → why
Questions about change and childhood test your tenses. Tense slips cost Grammar points.
- 1Then
The examiner is listening for tense
Childhood needs the past: played, went, was. The classic slip is "When I was young, I play…".
play → playedWhen I was a child, I play football every day.
When I was a child, I played football almost every day after school.
- 2Now
used to: past habits
used to + verb for things you did then but not now. The negative is didn't use to.
Then vs now in one sentenceI used to read comics a lot, but these days I hardly read anything on paper.
- 3Why it changed
Always say why it changed
The reason for the change is your extension: you moved, got busier, your phone changed things.
Now + whyNow I don't read books.
Now I mostly read on my phone, mainly because I have a long commute.
前回の模擬試験から、今日のプランへ
ウォームアップ、レッスン1つ、重点課題の練習、期限が来た復習。次の模擬試験後にはプランも更新されます。チェックを入れて試してみてください。
今日の20分
10月10日に最も失点につながった過去形を中心に組んだプランです。
- 今・新しいレッスンコースの次のレッスン
レッスン3・Then and now
学ぶ聴く話す直す保存今日取り組む理由。 レポートで指摘されたused toと過去形を練習します。
間違えた文を、身につくまで復習
間違えた文はノートに保存され、予定に沿って復習に戻ります。別々の2日で正しく言えたら完了です。復習結果を選んで試してみてください。
When I was in high school, me and my friends go there almost every day after class.
1日目に復習。 正しく言えましたか?
翌日に復習。間違えたらまた翌日、正解なら3日後。別々の2日で正しく言えたら完了です。
全35レッスン
3つのパート、3つの評価基準、試験当日の想定外に備える1つのユニット。
Part 1: short answers with substance
Answer any Part 1 question in 2–4 natural sentences with a reason and a detail.
- 1Answer, reason, detailTurn every Part 1 answer into 2–4 sentences with a reason and a detail.10分
- 2Likes and habitsAnswer "Do you like…" and "How often…" with how often, when, and how it feels.10分
- 3Then and nowUse "used to" and the present to say what changed and why.10分
- 4Questions you've never thought aboutStart within 3 seconds on an unfamiliar question: answer honestly, then link to something you know.10分
- 5Natural, not memorisedDrop memorised openers and keep three follow-ups sounding natural.10分
Part 2: a two-minute story
Turn any cue card into a 1:45 story with a clear line, real detail and a proper ending.
- 1One-minute notes: five wordsUse the minute to write five keywords, then talk for over a minute from them.12分
- 2Story line: setting, events, turn, resultTell it as setting, events, a turn and a result, joined by time words instead of "then".12分
- 3Fill the time with detailUse senses, numbers and a line of speech to reach 1:45.12分
- 4One story, many cardsMine one story from your life, save it, and adapt it to a new card.14分
- 5Ending and reflectionSpend the last 20 seconds on the card's final line, ending with a feeling and a look back.12分
Part 3: develop an opinion
Give a clear view with a reason and an example on any Part 3 question, and go deeper when pushed.
- 1Opinion, reason, exampleAnswer every Part 3 question with a clear view, one reason and one specific example.10分
- 2Two sides, then your sideGive a reason for each side of a question, then land on a clear view.10分
- 3From me to societyStart from your own experience, then widen it to people your age, big cities or the whole country.10分
- 4Predict and imagineAnswer future and "what if" questions with will, be likely to or would, plus a reason.10分
- 5Go one level deeper on "why"When asked why, give the cause behind the cause, with a reason or example every round.12分
Fluency and coherence
Speak at length without long pauses or restarts, with natural links and a clear order the examiner can follow.
- 1Thinking time that sounds naturalBuy thinking time with a natural phrase instead of silence or "um, um".10分
- 2Clean self-correctionFix a slip in one go with "I mean" or "or rather" instead of restarting the sentence.10分
- 3Vary your linking wordsLink longer answers with varied expressions instead of and, and, so.10分
- 44-3-2 retellingTell the same story three times, shorter each time, keeping every key point with fewer pauses.12分
- 5Signpost, then follow itSay how many points you'll make, then follow that order so the examiner can follow you.10分
Vocabulary: precise and natural
Use what you've learned naturally in new answers, instead of leaning on good, very and a lot of.
- 1Replace the all-purpose wordsSwap good, bad, thing, a lot of and very for words that say exactly what you mean.10分
- 2Collocations matter more than wordsGet the pairs Chinese speakers often miss right: make/do/take, heavy, rise/raise, and no more "learn knowledge".10分
- 3Topic chunks: work and technologyHave two or three ready chunks each for work and technology, two common Part 3 topics.11分
- 4Say the question your wayOpen by putting the question in your own words instead of repeating it, then give your view straight away.10分
- 5Idioms: few and well placedKnow when an idiom fits and when it sounds forced, with three safe ones ready.10分
Grammar: accurate and varied
Use two kinds of complex sentence correctly in one answer, with no tense, -s, article or plural slips.
- 1Present perfect or past simpleUse have done for experience and the past simple for a specific time, never "I have been there last year".11分
- 2Third-person -s, articles and pluralsAdd -s after he and she, put a or the before singular nouns, and never say advices or informations.10分
- 3Relative clauses: join short sentencesJoin two or three short sentences into one with who, which, where or whose, correctly.12分
- 4Conditionals for opinions and what-ifsTell real possibilities from imagined ones: If it rains, I'll…; If I were…, I'd…11分
- 5Comparing and concedingCompare with far more… than and not as… as, and concede with although, even though and while.11分
Test day: handling the unexpected
Handle unclear words, interruptions and odd questions without a silence over five seconds.
- 1When you didn't understandAsk once if you missed it, say your guess if a word is unclear, and just answer if you got it.11分
- 2Being interruptedWhen you're cut off, let the old answer go, accept in a word and answer the new question first.12分
- 3Odd questionsHandle a strange Part 3 question by reasoning from what you know and have seen to a tentative view.12分
- 4Reviewing your mockAfter a mock, listen to one answer, find one fix and say it again straight away.12分
- 5The last 72 hours and the first minuteWarm up aloud before the test, then start each opening answer within two seconds.10分