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SCMP Reporter

Part A

Situation

You are Lettuce Lo. You are the leader of a group of Form Five students who are organising a graduation dinner for July. You want it to be a very good one so you do some research and ask students in Form Six what they did for their graduation dinners. You want the following information about their dinners.

1. location

2. cost

3. food

4. activities

5. enjoy or not?

6. any further question

Part A Tips

Consider the situation

The situation is not formal and you are not talking to complete strangers

Hello. I am Lettuce Lo from Form Five. We are planning our graduation dinner and want some ideas. Will you answer a few questions for me about your graduation dinner?

Location means where

Cost means how much

Food is a noun so use what

Activities is a noun so use what

Enjoy or not is a yes/no question so use did

Try to ask for information that cannot be included in the other questions. If you plan to ask Did you have music?, but the answer to question four is, We sang songs, your question will not get a mark as you are repeating information.

Part B

Discussion

Four candidates sit in a group ready for a discussion. The topic is always related to the role play. Candidates read the topic, think about it for one minute [no writing allowed] and then talk for five minutes. Everyone must try to contribute equally.

You and some other Form Five students are meeting to plan the graduation dinner.

You may want to talk about

timing

place

activities

anything else you think important

Part B Tips

Hold your discussion

Starting - try to do more than repeat the question.

Role play the situation

e.g. Now that our exams are all over we can start making plans for our graduation dinner. Has anyone got ideas about when we should hold it?

Content ideas

Do you want it to be before the summer holidays or after the end of term when teachers will have more free time?

A Chinese restaurant? A hotel graduation package? In the school hall with food brought in? A barbecue in the open air?

Activities: speeches, games, film,  karaoke, performances, lucky draw, dancing?

You can talk about how much you think people will be willing to pay, who to invite, preparing invitation cards, seating plans, souvenirs, etc.

Remember

You do not need to come to a conclusion so just keep the discussion moving along not too fast and not too slow. Show your knowledge of different types of language: make statements, give opinions, agree, disagree, ask questions, offer reasons, sum up and so on.

The first part stresses accuracy so pay attention to grammar. The discussion focuses more on fluency so make sure you say plenty and behave naturally. Pronunciation is important for both. The words must sound like English! And practise definitely helps with oral exams as you gain in confidence from getting used to the situation.

Answers

1. Where did you have/hold your graduation dinner?

2. How much did it cost/did you pay?

3. What food did you have?/What did you eat?

4. What activities did you have?/ What activities were there?

5. Did you enjoy the dinner?

6. When did the dinner end?/Do you have any interesting ideas for graduation dinners?



Talking point