I-B Core Skills Formative Assessment

This is a formative assessment of English I-B core skills, as described in Pathways to Academic English, 4th Edition. This test will help you to know which I-B core skills you should review or work on.

Please DO NOT look at your Pathways to Academic English textbook, dictionary, or any other resources while taking this test. Make your best guesses based on your knowledge and English skills.

Advice and feedback will be available upon completion of this test.

Part 1: Knowledge of Pathways to Academic English

This section is designed to test your knowledge of the phrases and expressions in Chapters 5 through 8 of Pathways to Academic English, 4th Edition.

1. Which of the following is a signal word/phrase for giving a reason or result?

Today...
...leads to...
You should note that...
...also known as...

2. Which of the following is a signal word/phrase for giving an example?

take...
the key thing is...
in fact...
according to...

3. Which of the following is a phrase that can be used to elaborate on a point when orally summarizing your notes?

This brings up another major issue...
One main issue the speaker talks about is...
Specifically, the speaker says that...
Moving on to the second point...

4. Which of the following sentences does NOT contain a mistake in expressing information in an oral summary?

Talks about climate change.
Many people are worried, so global warming is getting serious.
Recycling is important, so it is damaging the Earth.
Studying the DNA of some plants helps scientists understand how virus DNA can change.

5. Which of the following is an appropriate response to a WHAT greeting?

I'm fine, how are you?
Yes.
Nothing much.
Not so great.

6. Which of the following is a rhetorical question?

You ate what?!
Do you know where the train station is?
How's it going?
You don't like Dr. Smith's class, do you?

7. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the sentence:

He's feeling down because his professor didn't buy his research proposal.

He wasted a lot of time talking to his professor.
His research proposal was turned down by his professor because they didn't have enough funding.
His research proposal did not get purchased because his position is lower than his professor's.
He is sad becuase his professor didn't accept his research proposal.

8. Which of the following is NOT a meaning of the phrasal verb go on?

move to a touching position
confirm clearly
attach to something else
to continue

9. What is the meaning of the idiomatic expression bound to?

likely to happen
to not give up
to want or desire
to cause

10. What is the meaning of the idiom over one's head?

very different
to know something very well
to be indecisive
too difficult to do

Part 2: Note-Taking While Listening

Listen to the lecture, take notes, and then answer the questions. Be sure to take notes because you will later have to listen to a summary. This section is designed to test your ability to listen for important information and take notes (Chapter 5).

Part 3: Identifying an Appropriate Oral Summary

Now listen to an oral summary of the previous lecture and answer the questions. This section is designed to test your ability to orally summarize from notes (Chapter 6).

Listening File:

1. What mistake did the summarizer make with connecting their ideas?

There is no connection between vaccines and getting sick.
He didn't explain what he meant by “the problem with a vaccine”.
He didn't say what viruses differ from in their treatment methods.
There is no connection between researchers arguing and viruses lacking cells.

2. What important point did the summarizer leave out that was discussed in the lecture?

that viruses do not consume nutrients
that viruses lack cellular structure
that viruses are the most common source of illness
that vaccines must be administered before getting ill

Part 4: Question Response

Listen to the sentence, and then the three possible responses. Then select the most appropriate response. This section is designed to test your ability to understand interrogatives and giving opinions (Chapter 7).

Part 5: Conversational Listening

Listen to the short conversations and answer the questions. This section is designed to test your ability to understand idiomatic language in context (Chapter 7).

I-B Core Skills Formative Assessment

Part 1: Knowledge of Pathways to Academic English

Part 2: Note-Taking While Listening

Listening File:

Part 3: Identifying an Appropriate Oral Summary

Listening File:

Part 4: Question Response

Listening File:

Part 5: Conversational Listening

Listening File:

Results:

Your Skills Chart: