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Lesson planB280 minsNew. New: checked automatically for level, grammar, facts and originality; a teacher's review is still to come. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Students learn to answer Part 5 questions about the writer's purpose and feelings, word meaning and reference, and practise them in two exam-style texts.
Reading · Multiple choice · Purpose · Reference
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Download all (ZIP, 2 PDFs)Part 5 often asks why a writer says something. Match each sentence (1–8) with what the writer is doing (A–H). Use each one once.
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…then its match
Match each sentence (1–8) with the word (A–H) that best describes how the writer feels. Use each word once.
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…then its match
Part 5 can ask what a word or phrase means. You may not know the word, but the words around it will help. Read each extract and choose the best meaning.
'The audience, which had been huge at the start, dwindled to a handful by midnight.' What does 'dwindled' mean?
'She was reluctant to speak at first, but after a few minutes she couldn't stop.' What does 'reluctant' mean?
'The path was treacherous after the rain: two people slipped and one broke her wrist.' What does 'treacherous' mean?
'His explanation was so convoluted that by the end nobody knew what he meant.' What does 'convoluted' mean?
'We had to improvise: the projector broke, so I drew the diagrams on the board instead.' What does 'improvise' mean?
'The results were inconclusive, so the team decided to repeat the experiment.' What does 'inconclusive' mean?
Words like this, such, which and they point back to something earlier. Read each extract and choose what the word refers to. Read the sentence before it carefully.
'Many visitors leave their rubbish on the beach. This makes the local volunteers angry.' What does 'This' refer to?
'The museum has two new rooms: one for children and one for students. The latter opens next week.' What does 'The latter' refer to?
'My grandparents grew up without phones or computers. Such a life is hard for my generation to imagine.' What does 'Such a life' mean?
'The council planted two hundred trees last year. Most of them have already died, which has angered residents.' What does 'which' refer to?
'Scientists tested the new paint on fifty buildings. They found that it lasted twice as long as ordinary paint.' What does 'They' refer to?
'I've tried yoga, cycling and tennis. Of these, cycling is the one I enjoy most.' What does 'these' refer to?
Read the text. For each question, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) that fits best according to the text. Underline the words in the text that prove your answer, then check the explanation.
Every clear Friday night, Dev Malhotra sets up his telescope in the corner of the supermarket car park, as far as possible from the lights. He used to drive buses for a living, and he started the evenings two years ago, after his granddaughter asked him why she could hardly see any stars from her bedroom window. Now up to thirty people come, some with folding chairs and flasks of tea. Dev doesn't charge anything. 'People think astronomy needs expensive equipment and a degree,' he says. 'It doesn't. It needs patience and a dark corner.' The supermarket has even agreed to switch off two of its lamps on Fridays, which, Dev admits, he never expected.
Why did Dev start the evenings?
What does 'It doesn't' mean in Dev's words?
What did Dev not expect?
You are going to read an article by a woman who started keeping bees at her office. For questions 1–6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
Exam task: Reading and Use of English, Part 5
Tip: When a question asks why the writer mentions something, read the sentences just before and after it. Ask yourself what the writer wants the reader to understand at that point.
When I first suggested keeping bees on the roof of our office, my manager looked at me as if I had suggested keeping a horse in the car park. We are an insurance company, after all, and most of my colleagues think of insects as something to be removed, not invited in. But I had kept bees at my parents' house for years, and the flat roof above our fourth floor, with its view over the river and the railway, seemed wasted on air-conditioning units and the occasional pigeon. It took eight months of emails, two meetings and a very long risk assessment before anyone agreed. In the end, it was not my enthusiasm, which I suspect had started to annoy him, that changed my manager's mind. It was a colleague from the finance team. Tunde had read that bees could make staff happier at work, and he offered to share the work with me. Suddenly the project was no longer one person's strange hobby; it was a team activity, and team activities were something the company was keen to encourage. The first summer was harder than either of us had expected. Our bees, it turned out, had to fly a long way to find enough flowers, and our two hives produced barely enough honey to fill a jam jar. Tunde was disappointed. I was secretly relieved: a small harvest meant fewer awkward conversations about who would get to take some home. The biggest surprise was the effect on the people around us. Colleagues who had never spoken to me began stopping by my desk to ask how the bees were doing. One of the security guards started bringing in photos of flowers from her garden and asking whether the bees would like them. The canteen planted lavender in its window boxes. None of this was in the risk assessment. There have been setbacks. A cold spring killed one colony, and a visitor from head office was stung on the ear, which did not help our case. But the bees are still there, now in three hives, and last year the honey went into small jars with the company logo, given to clients at Christmas. My manager, I notice, now describes the project as his idea. I have decided not to argue. Some battles are not worth fighting, especially when you have already won.
Why does the writer mention 'keeping a horse in the car park'?
What finally changed the manager's mind?
Why was the writer 'secretly relieved' after the first summer?
What does 'None of this' refer to in the fourth paragraph?
What does the writer suggest about her manager in the last paragraph?
What is the writer's main purpose in the article?
You are going to read an article by a man who joined his daughter in a wildlife project. For questions 1–6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
Exam task: Reading and Use of English, Part 5
Tip: For a question about what a word means, try each option in the sentence. Only the right meaning keeps the sentence true to the rest of the paragraph.
My daughter Elin was fourteen when she announced that she wanted to count moths. I assumed it was a school project and would last a week. Moths, as far as I was concerned, were the dull brown things that flew into the kitchen on summer evenings. I could not imagine anyone wanting to look at one on purpose, and certainly not in the middle of the night. The idea came from a local wildlife group that asks volunteers to record the moths in their gardens. You leave a bright lamp on over a box overnight; the moths settle inside, and in the morning you identify them, write down what you have found and let them go unharmed. Elin's plan was slightly different. She wanted to check the box at midnight as well, because, she said, different moths fly at different times of night. I suspected she simply liked having an excuse to stay up late, but I agreed to keep her company. That first night changed my mind about a lot of things. The box was full of creatures I would never have recognised as moths: one was bright pink and olive green, another had wings like a dead leaf, and a third was so large that I stepped back when it moved. Elin knew most of their names already. I knew none, and for once I was the one asking questions while she explained, patiently, as if I were the child. We have now been recording for two summers. The routine is less exciting than it sounds. Most mornings the box contains the same few common species, and on wet nights there is almost nothing at all. Identifying the difficult ones can take an hour with a guidebook, and we still argue about some of them. Elin sends our records to the wildlife group, who add them to a map of the whole county. It is a small contribution, she reminds me, but without thousands of small contributions like it, nobody would know which species are disappearing. I would like to say that I have become an expert. I have not. Instead, I have gained something harder to describe: a reason to notice things I used to ignore, and an hour every week when my teenage daughter actually wants to talk to me. I still do not like finding moths in the kitchen. But I no longer think of them as dull.
What did the writer think when Elin first wanted to count moths?
In the second paragraph, what does 'unharmed' mean?
What does the writer suspect about Elin's plan to check the box at midnight?
What does the writer suggest about himself in the third paragraph?
What does 'it' refer to in 'without thousands of small contributions like it'?
How does the writer feel about the project in the last paragraph?
Write a short paragraph of 100–130 words. Then swap with a partner and write one Part 5 question about your partner's paragraph: ask why they say something, or what a word like this or it refers to. Give four options (A–D) with only one correct answer.
Write about a hobby, project or activity that turned out differently from what you expected. Say what you thought at first, what happened and how you feel about it now. Show your feelings clearly, and use at least two words from each list in the box. Word box: illustrate · criticise · justify · reassure · challenge · highlight · contrast · describe · convinced · doubtful · impressed · disappointed · relieved · frustrated · grateful · indifferent · hive · colony · honey · species · wildlife · record · identify · volunteer
Suggested minimum: 100 words
Before you hand it in
0 words · aim for at least 100
Last spring a friend persuaded me to volunteer with a group that cleans up the river near our town. I was doubtful at first. I imagined cold mornings, wet boots and very little to show for them, and the first morning was exactly like that. However, the group also records the wildlife it sees, and that changed everything for me. On my third visit we saw a kingfisher, and a retired teacher helped me identify it from a photo. Since then I have learned to recognise six different species of bird. This is not something I ever expected to care about. I am grateful to my friend, although I still don't enjoy the cold mornings.
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