Page 78 - Think 3. Teacher's Book B3+

Units 5 & 6
Towards B2 First for Schools
In B2 First for Schools Reading and
Use of English Part 5, candidates TOWARDS B2 First for Schools
have to read a text followed by
six four-option, multiple-choice
questions (NB: on page 64 there are
only four questions). This part of the
exam tests understanding of content
and text organisation.
Encourage your students to do the
following when they approach this
task:
• Skim the text to find out the topic
and general meaning.
• Read each question carefully.
• Check that the meaning of the
option is reflected in the text.
• Do not assume an option must be
correct simply because it contains
a word that is also in the text.
• When the questions are
incomplete sentences, read both
parts of the sentence to make
sure the whole sentence matches.
• After choosing an answer, check
the other three options and
decide why they are wrong.
1 D 2 B 3 C 4 C
Workbook p61
64
T64 Towards B2 First for Schools | Units 5 & 6
READING AND USE OF ENGLISH
Multiple choice workbook page 61
1 You are going to read a text about urban legends. For questions 1–4, choose the
answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
People have been telling stories for as long as they have been walking
the Earth. And from cave paintings to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to
Hollywood blockbusters, the methods of telling them have got more
and more sophisticated.
In the 1960s, a new storytelling art form emerged – the urban legend.
Even if you’ve never heard the term, you’ve certainly heard an urban
legend. What about the story of the unwanted pet alligators that were
flushed down the toilet and are now living in the sewers of New York
City? Or the man who woke up in a bathtub full of ice and saw a note
informing him that one of his kidneys had been taken out?
One of the key features of the urban legend is its lack of an author.
The stories appear mysteriously and are then passed on by word of
mouth. And although we know these mini-tales of horror, humour
and embarrassment are almost certainly not true, part of us wants to
believe them.
Then the internet, which is packed with fiction (everything from jokes
to the latest releases from top-selling authors), helped create and
spread urban legends. Before the internet, urban legends went around
quite slowly. They took time to reach a larger audience. The internet
changed all that almost overnight.
The internet is the perfect vehicle for the urban legend, for it not only
allows the stories to spread much faster but also allows for greater
anonymity, too – a lot of what we read online doesn’t have an author’s
name attached to it. This anonymity adds to the overall mystery.
Of course, the internet also allows you to check the truth of a story
more easily. Over time, a number of sites have appeared which collect
stories, investigate their origins and report the results. Often there
isn’t any truth to the story at all. But sometimes the urban legend
grew from something that did actually happen. Thanks to the internet,
learning about the origins of an urban legend can be as interesting
and entertaining as the story itself.
1 What do we learn about stories from the first 3 What does the author mean when he says ‘the
paragraph? internet … is packed with fiction’?
A They’ve never been as popular as they are now. A You can find every story written online.
B They have their origins in the days of Shakespeare. B You can get most fiction for free online.
C They were much longer in the past. C There are lots of stories on the internet.
D Ways of telling them have changed over time. D There are too many stories on the internet.
2 What does the author suggest about urban legends? 4 What does the author suggest about urban legends
A Everyone knows the term ‘urban legend’. in the last paragraph?
B Everyone knows an example of one. A They’re generally mystery stories.
C They appeared at the same time as the internet. B They’re usually short.
D They’re always about horrific events. C Nowadays it’s easier to discover if they’re true
or not.
D Some include the author’s name.