Week 1 · Start Smart (revision) and the Unit 1 opener: a short text about learning to speak with confidence (reference only), words such as anxious / hesitation / tolerance, a project listening (our own read-aloud text), a gap-fill with five words, rewriting with because / never / stopped, a short email, the Unit 1 aims · 3 lessons
1
Reading a short text: details and word meaning
English Secondary 1 Term 1, Start Smart, Reading: p. 9
GoalRead a short text about a learner and answer detail, attitude and word-meaning questions.
New words
nervous · a little afraid or worried about something newhesitation · a short stop before you speak or act, because you are not sureconfident · sure that you can do something wellmotivated · wanting to do something and keeping tryingencourage · to give someone hope and courage to continueattitude · the way a person thinks or feels about something
Explanation
Reading questions at B1 ask for three things. A detail question has its answer in one sentence: find the sentence first, then choose the option that says the same thing in other words. An attitude question asks how a person or the writer feels: look at the verbs and adjectives, for example nervous, proud or relaxed, and at what the person does. A word-meaning question asks about a word you may not know: read the sentence before and after it, and test your meaning in the sentence. Be careful with options that are true in real life but are not in the text, and with options that use a word from the text in the wrong place. Your book has a text on page 9 about a student who learns English online. After this lesson, read it and try the same three skills.
Question type
What to do
Detail
Find the sentence in the text, then match it with the option.
Attitude
Look at the feeling words and at what the person does.
Word meaning
Read the sentences around the word and test your meaning.
Wrong options
Reject options that are not in the text or change a detail.
Worked examples
Karim joined the school cooking club in September. At the first meeting he felt nervous because he had never cooked for other people. He stood at the back and said nothing, and when the teacher asked him a question he answered in a very quiet voice. After two weeks, things began to change. The teacher never laughed at mistakes; she said that hesitation is normal when we try something new. Karim started to ask questions, and his friends showed him how to cut vegetables. In November the club cooked lunch for forty teachers. Karim explained the recipe to three guests without looking at his notes. He is still a little shy, but he now feels confident enough to speak.
Read the text. A grown-up can read it aloud first.
Detail: “Why did Karim feel nervous at the first meeting?” The text says he felt nervous because he had never cooked for other people. The answer is in one sentence.
Attitude: the teacher “never laughed at mistakes”. Her attitude is kind and encouraging. We know this from what she does and from the word never laughed, not from the word kind.
Word meaning: “hesitation is normal when we try something new”. Karim stood at the back and answered quietly, so hesitation means a short stop because you are not sure.
Class activity
Text detective. Choose a short text of six to eight sentences from a school book or a magazine. Write one detail question, one attitude question and one word-meaning question about it, with the answers. Give your questions to a grown-up and check the answers together.
Practice
1
What did Karim do at the first meeting? (a) He talked to everyone. (b) He stood at the back and said nothing. (c) He cooked lunch for the teachers.
(b) He stood at the back and said nothing. Option (c) happened in November, not at the first meeting.
2
What was the teacher’s attitude to mistakes? (a) She was angry. (b) She did not notice them. (c) She treated them as normal.
(c) She treated them as normal. She never laughed at mistakes and said hesitation is normal.
3
What does the word “hesitation” mean in the text?
A short stop before you speak or act because you are not sure. Karim answered in a very quiet voice and stood at the back.
4
True or false according to the text: Karim is not shy any more.
False. The text says he is still a little shy, but he feels confident enough to speak.
5
Write two sentences of your own: one about something you felt nervous about, and one that begins “I felt more confident when …”.
For example: I felt nervous before my first swimming test. I felt more confident when my coach said that I was ready.
