C1 Reading worksheet 2 (standard)

Finding my voice

Warmer
1 Work in groups. Ask and answer the questions.
1 Do you enjoy singing? Why / Why not?
2 Do you think you are a good singer? Why / Why not?
3 Would you enjoy taking singing lessons? Why / Why not?
4 What is your favourite song to sing along with? Why?
5 Would you enjoy singing in front of an audience? Why / Why not?

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C1 Reading worksheet 2 (standard)
Finding my voice
Vocabulary
1 Replace the words in bold in the sentences with a synonym in the box.

astoundingly ​accompanies ​conceivable ​dread ​incompatible
inkling ​oblivious to ​overwhelming ​shame ​urge

1 I’m a pretty shy person, so the idea of singing anywhere in public fills me with terror.

2 I’ve never had a strong desire to go on stage and sing or act; it doesn’t appeal to me.

3 Even though I’m 35, I don’t feel any embarrassment for being a fan of K-Pop.
4 Maria is a huge fan of Pharrell Williams and she found it really difficult to deal with her
emotions when she got to meet him.
5 I really enjoy singing, especially when my best friend plays together with me on her guitar.

6 I’m glad you liked that track I uploaded yesterday – I had an instinct that you might enjoy it.

7 My Dad enjoys listening to almost every imaginable genre of music, but he has never been a
huge fan of Hip-hop.
8 I’ve never liked any of Billie Eilish’s songs before, but even I have to admit that her new album is
impressively good.
9 We all know how much Susanna loves singing karaoke, but she’s completely unaware of the
fact that her voice is terrible.
10
It’s so annoying, my favourite headphones are not capable of being used in combination with
my new smartphone, so I am going to have to buy some news ones.

Reading
1 You are going to read an article about a journalist who decides to face her fear of
singing. First read the whole text without the missing paragraphs. Which description
matches the writer’s experience?
A At the start she was optimistic, but after her lesson she realised how important having a talent
for it is.
B Learning to sing is more complicated than she realised.
C She started with reservations about the lesson, but her confidence has grown by the end.

2 Read the opening paragraph and look at paragraph options A-C only. Which one cannot
follow on logically from this?

3 Now look at the first sentence of the next paragraph after the gap. Which of the two
remaining options is the only one which this sentence can logically follow? Why?

Standing here, this has come back to me more vividly

than ever, and a feeling of dread comes over me.

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C1 Reading worksheet 2 (standard)
Finding my voice
4 Complete the part 7 exam task.

You are going to read an article. Six paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from
the paragraphs A–G the one which fits each gap (1–6). There is one extra paragraph which you do
not need to use.

Finding my voice
I’m standing outside an unremarkable-looking wordless notes along with him and the piano.
door in a quiet suburban street. It is a warm, sunny Astoundingly, I do so without any hesitation, with
day, perfect for relaxing and taking things easy, no sense of shyness whatsoever, and we go on for
and I am about to do something unfathomable. five continuous minutes of glorious vocal freedom.
My boyfriend’s words are ringing in my ears from 4
when I left home this morning: ‘I’m sure you’ll be
When we return to the humming, he makes a short
fine when you get there.’ I’m not. I am desperately
audio recording of us both. As we listen back to it, I
fighting the urge to run away from my first ever
am shocked. I don’t recognise my voice at all. ‘Your
singing lesson.
ears are on the side of your head, but the sound
1 you make comes out of the front, so it comes out
Standing here, this has come back to me more completely differently to the way you hear it’. There
vividly than ever, and a feeling of dread comes over must be millions of people on this planet who’ve
me. Still, I press on the buzzer and Mal Taylor, my always been completely oblivious to the fact they
new singing teacher, lets me in. ‘If I walk into his have a crackly, offensive-sounding voice.
studio and it’s just me, him and a piano pushed 5
against the wall, I’m allowed to walk straight out’, I
Mal has something else in mind, however. It’s time
promise myself. There’d be nowhere to hide, and I’d
to try a song. We start by speaking the lyrics as he
simply be too embarrassed to carry on.
accompanies us on the piano, before gradually
2 moving our way up to singing the melody in full. I
The first thing Mal actually wants me to do is am astonished at how natural it all feels, and how
practice my breathing. He asks me to take a deep easily I sing along, first with him, and then just me
breath, and as I do so, he immediately corrects and the piano. Most importantly, this exercise has
what I’m doing. ‘Despite what most non-singers shown me how mistaken I have always been in
tend to believe’, he says, ‘the ideal breathing believing that singing and speaking are two entirely
technique for singing is not to take air into your separate, entirely incompatible functions.
chest, but lower down, around your stomach, 6
arranging your body so that your voice is supported
And why shouldn’t I? It is the one I use for catching
as you sing.’
up with my friends or telling jokes, the one I use
3 to tell people I love them, the one that I’ve hidden
‘Absolutely,’ he confirms. ‘Now, let’s make some away for years and years. And the one I am finally
noise.’ I freeze, convinced he’s going to ask me for using, once again, to sing.
a solo performance of my favourite song, from
start to finish. Not quite. He asks me to hum a few

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C1 Reading worksheet 2 (standard)
Finding my voice
A When I told everyone about my plan to go E Mine, Mal reassures me, is nothing of the sort. I
for a singing lesson, they were all extremely could even be a professional singer one day, he
supportive. I particularly remember my best smiles. I have an overwhelming urge to record
friend telling me to record myself, before and him saying this, before sprinting home and
after, so that we could listen back to it together playing it to everyone I know.
and hear how far I’d progressed. F Of course, that’s exactly what the arrangement is.
B We stop briefly to discuss the reasons why people This is a singing lesson after all. No one is forcing
feel embarrassed to sing. Mal believes that, me to do it. As I enter Mal is playing a few scales
because our voices are such an intimate part of up and down the keys of the piano, and I have a
who we are, being criticised for our singing is the terrible feeling he’ll suddenly stop and challenge
same as being personally insulted. This makes me to sing along with each note.
complete sense to me. G Which is crazy, he suggests. Singing is just as
C Many people carry around a feeling of shame much about communicating an idea or a feeling
after a time when they were ridiculed for their to other people as speaking is. ‘Our voices are
singing when they were a child. I was eight, there to be used in every conceivable way’, he
happily and loudly singing the theme tune of my says. ‘I want you to feel proud of doing that with
favourite TV programme. It made a nearby group yours.’
of boys collapse in hysterical laughter.
D Trying things his way initially feels unnatural, but
I soon get used to the technique, and begin to get
an inkling of how even the most limited vocalist
can sing more loudly, and be able to hold notes
for a longer time, a thought I relay to Mal.

Tip
Always read the gapped texts first to understand the overall structure. Then
look carefully at the sentences before and after the gaps and try to find ways
in which paragraphs A–G might connect to these sentences. Pay attention to
words which refer back to somebody or something that has already been said,
e.g. we, his, this, that and which. You should also for links based on the specific
topic or sequence of events.

Speaking
1 Work in pairs or small groups. Discuss the questions.
1 In what ways might singing have positive physical effect on the body or mind?
2 Do you think that music plays a vital role in today’s society? Why / Why not?
3 Should the government provide funding to support young musicians in their careers?
4 Would you say that people’s feelings about music change as they get older? Why / Why not?

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C1 Reading worksheet 2 (standard)
Teacher’s notes
Aims Reading
This worksheet aims to practise C1 Advanced 1 Tell students that they are going to complete
Reading and Use of English part 7. In this task a C1 Part 7 Reading task, which requires them
students complete the text with six missing to complete the text with missing paragraphs.
paragraphs. The paragraphs are not in the correct Before starting the reading section, draw students’
order and there is one extra option which they do attention to the Tip box. Then ask students to read
not need to use. just the gapped text to get the general idea of the
• It enables students to understand the structure text, choosing from the three options.
and development of the text.
Answers
• It examines the importance of reference (see Tip
Option C
box) and logical development of ideas.
• The worksheet also provides students practice in
2 Explain that students are going to look at the first
the Warmer and Speaking sections of Speaking
gap to practice the task. Point out that in this
part 1 and part 4.
practice task, the missing paragraph is one of the
Warmer three paragraph options A, B, and C and that they
are going to follow a process of elimination to work
1 Allow students one minute to look at the questions
out which. Have them read the three paragraphs
and plan their answers. Then ask them to discuss in
and then choose the one that cannot follow the
groups of three or four. After, as you take open class
opening paragraph, giving reasons for their answer.
feedback, elicit relevant vocabulary and write it on
the board. Answers
Listen out for any opportunity to introduce or Paragraph B. We don’t know who the ‘We’ is in
highlight the target language from the Vocabulary We stop briefly, nor what it is that they might be
section, e.g. If Paco says, I’ve never had a strong stopping. In addition, at this point in the text
desire to sing, this could be paraphrased on the we have no idea who Mal is as their identity has
board as Paco has never felt the u____ to sing (urge). not been established. It could be her boyfriend,
but she said goodbye to him earlier at home,
Answers
so it must be someone new who hasn’t been
Students’ own answers mentioned.

Vocabulary 3 Direct students to the first sentence in the

1 Ask students to complete the task individually, paragraph which follows the gap. Students must
which pre-teaches some of the lexis found in the now choose which of the two remaining possible
text. They match the words in bold to the synonyms answers from Exercise 2 that fits given this
in the box. Ask them to compare answers in pairs sentence. Elicit answers in feedback and, again,
before eliciting answers from the whole class. ask for reasons for their choice.

Answers Answers
1 dread ​2 urge ​3 shame ​4  overwhelming ​ Paragraph C. The sentence refers back to a
5 accompanies ​6 inkling ​7 conceivable ​ memory that fills her with dread. Paragraph A
8 astoundingly ​9 oblivious ​10 incompatible describes a positive memory so it does not follow
that she would remember it with dread, whereas
Paragraph C describes a humiliating experience
for the writer, one likely to invoke feelings of
dread.

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C1 Listening worksheet 2 (standard)
Teacher’s notes
4 Students attempt the rest of the exam task. Remind Speaking
them of the Tip box and encourage them to use the
1 Point out to students that the questions are
strategies as they complete the task.
similar to those found in part 4 of the C1 Advanced
Answers Speaking exam. Ask students to discuss the
questions in pairs or small groups s and then
1 C
feedback to the whole class. Remind them that
2 F  (The words Of course, that’s exactly what they should listen to the points made by the other
the arrangement is at the start of option F students in their groups and respond to them (e.g.
refer back to the description in the previous with agreement / disagreement / partial agreement)
paragraph of what the writer imagines a as well as making their own points. Explain that this
singing lesson will be like . In the paragraph part of the Speaking exam test lasts five minutes
after the gap, the line The first thing Mal so they should aim to give extended answers with
actually wants me to do is practice my reasons, justifications and examples.
breathing refers to what the writer imagines in
option F a singing lesson will be like.)
3 D (The line Trying things his way initially feels
unnatural, but I soon get used to the technique
refers back to the breathing technique in the
previous paragraph. At the end of option D,
the line a thought I relay to Mal is answered in
the next paragraph by Mal with Absolutely.)
4 B  (This option continues the topic of being
embarrassed to sing from the paragraph
before)
5 E  (In the paragraph before the gap, the writer
says they have a crackly, offensive-sounding
voice, but the singing teacher contradicts this
in Option E (Mine, Mal reassures me, is nothing
of the sort. I could even be a professional singer
one day). The paragraph after the gap begins
Mal has something else in mind which refers
back to the writer saying in option E that they
have an overwhelming urge to record him
saying this, before sprinting home and playing
it to everyone I know.)
6 G  (The paragraph before the gap talks about
a misconception that the writer had: Most
importantly, this exercise has shown me how
mistaken I have always been in believing that
singing and speaking are two entirely separate,
entirely incompatible functions. Option G then
talks about how this misconception is wrong.
At the end of option G, the line I want you to
feel proud of doing that with yours said by the
singing teacher is responded to by the writer
at the start of the paragraph after the gap:
And why shouldn’t I?)

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