TASC / TIF:
Syllabus and sample questions
Servicio de Idiomas
Septiembre 2009
TASC / TIF:
Syllabus and sample questions
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
SECTION 1
Listening (10 marks)
Aim: understanding meaning, speaker’s intentions, distinguishing main points from
secondary points, facts from comments among a wide variety of different topics. It is
played twice and it lasts for about 2 minutes.
Format: The listening includes all types of texts such as interviews, speeches, lectures,
news broadcast and so on.
Question type: 10 questions – 5 multiple choice AND 5 True or False questions.
Example:
A) Escuche la siguiente grabación. Marque la respuesta correcta (A, B o C). El orden
de las preguntas corresponde al orden de la información dada. (5 marks)
She retired ____ years ago
nearly 3
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more than 3
B) Escuche la siguiente grabación. Marque las frases con T (TRUE), F (FALSE) (5
marks)
The woman says she prefers the Volvo
SECTION 2
Reading comprehension (20 marks)
Aim: general comprehension of a text and the opinions expressed. Students should be
able to find specific information and show their ability to identify specific vocabulary
items.
Format: the reading includes all type of texts: newspaper and magazines articles,
reports, advertisements…
Question type: the text is divided into paragraphs where students have to match
possible headlines with each paragraph. Students will also have to find synonyms in the
texts for the given options.
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2. Reading (10 marks)
A) Lea el siguiente artículo. Y escoja el titular (A-I) que major se ajuste a cada párrafo
(1-7) Hay un titular que sobra. Tome como ejemplo el que tiene numeración (0).
A The research work
B Others follow
C Confident of success
D World-wide search for gold
0
“Father and son start Gold Rush”
Terence and Chris Madden have travelled from Canada’s frozen north to the heat of
Africa in their search for nature’s most desired metals. The father and son team –one an
explorer, the other a mineral expert- believe their mine on the side of a Welsh mountain
could contain up to 10,000 ounces of gold.
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After ten years of digging in the Welsh hills, they are convinced that they are just metres
away from a five million dollar vein of gold. “As we dig, we are finding high levels of gold;
now we just need to get a few more metres to where it is concentrated, “ said Terence,
68, from Liverpool.
B) Synonym equivalent. Encuentre un sinónimo en el texto para las siguientes
palabras: (10 marks)
Excavate (paragraph 1)
_______________
SECTION 3
Practical English (20 marks)
Aim: students have to demonstrate their ability to answer to everyday situations
within an upper-intermediate level.
Format: the dialogues include all type of daily situations.
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Question type: students are given different daily situations.
Responda de forma completa a los siguientes enunciados y situaciones
A-React to the following statements: (8 marks)
-Have a nice day!
B-Imagine you have just arrived in England, it’s your first day at a language school and
you must: (12 marks)
-Introduce yourself to the secretary
-Find out your class and teacher’s name.
-Ask for details about the timetable
SECTION 4
Use of English: (50 marks)
Aim: students have to demonstrate their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar in
English.
Format: the exercises include all grammar structure, verb tenses and all type of
vocabulary.
Question type: students must fill in the gaps of a text choosing among different options,
rewrite sentence without changing the meaning and complete sentences using the
correct verb tense.
Multiple Choice:
Complete el siguiente texto con una de las opciones (a,b,c,d) El número 0 es el
ejemplo (10 marks)
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Write the Perfect Crime Novel
Most people are born with the natural ability to (0) B... stories, but only a rare few have
the determination to become professional authors, and even fewer have the joy of
seeing their novels top the (1) ... of bestselling books. Some of the world's famous
crime…
0. A. say
B. tell
C. speak
D. announce
1. A. queue
B. list
C. row
D. line
Rewriting
Escriba la segunda frase utilizando la palabra en negrita y manteniendo el significado
de la frase original. No cambie la palabra en negrita. (20 marks)
1. When we were younger, we liked going for a long walk.
Used
When we were younger, ……………………………… for a long walk.
Verbs cloze
Complete las frases utilizando los verbos entre paréntesis en el tiempo que coresponda.
(20 marks)
1-Yesterday, while I ……….. (walk) along the park, it ………….. (start) rain.
2- Tomorrow, we ……………….. (have) the day off.
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STUDY MATERIALS
Students who attend to class, will have a continuous assessment program. Once they
have reached the level corresponding to TASC / TIF level, the
Coursebooks (designed for class, not for self-study)
Move (Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate and levels) Ed.
Macmillan
FCE Result. Ed Oxford
Software programmes (designed for self-study)
Tell me More
Grammar / Vocabulary references
English Grammar in Use (Elementary, Pre-intermediate, Intermediate and Advanced
level), Raymund Murphy, Cambridge University Press.
English Vocabulary in Use (Elementary, Pre-intermediate, Intermediate and Advanced
level), Stuart Redman, Cambridge University Press.
Oxford learner’s grammar.
Dictionaries
Gran Diccionario Oxford, Oxford University Press, 3ª edición. 2003
Thesaurus, Oxford University Press, 2004
Oxford Learner’s Pocket Dictionary.
Oxford de Phrasal Verbs, Oxford University Press, 2001
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LANGUAGE SYLLABUS
GRAMMAR
-Verbs: regular and irregular forms,
-Tenses: present simple, present continuous, present perfect (already, still, yet, just,
never, ever, for, since, ago), present perfect continuous, past simple, past continuous,
past perfect, past perfect continuous, future (offers, promises and predictions) going to,
future continuous. Gerunds and infinitives.
-Structure: Relative clauses. Comparatives and superlatives. Parallel structures (the
more…the better).Passive. Conditional (type 0, type 1, type 2, type 3). Modals.
Reported speech. Causatives (have something done). Used to/ would, be used to, get
used to. Question tags. So…that. So/ neither…+ auxiliaries.
-Word order.
-Pronouns: subject and object pronouns, demonstratives, possessives.
-Prepositions: use and meaning
-Verb + preposition
-Adjective + preposition
-Adjectives and adverbs. Adjective order.
-Modifiers: So and such. Enough and too. Quite, pretty, rather and fairly
-Word formation
-Quantifiers
-Time expressions
-Connectors: so, but, although, despite, in spite of, even though, nevertheless,
however…
-Countable and uncountable nouns. Much and many, (a) little and (a)few.
VOCABULARY:
Adjectives to describe places, Phrasal verbs to talk about daily routines, Countries and
adjectives of nationality,
Months and dates, Clothes and colours, Family words, Frequency phrases and free time
activities, Prepositions of place
Phrasal verbs with object pronoun + particle, Household clothes, Jobs, Holiday
activities, Business words, The weather, Modern inventions,
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Sports, leisure activities , make and do, Character adjectives, Work experience /
Occupations, Phrases about friendship and rumour, Types of film / Describing elements
of a film, Food / Ordering food in restaurants, Describing appearance and things you
wear, Types of music / Musical instruments, play, do, go with sports and activities /
Phrases with get. prepositions of place / Words to describe location, accommodation
and holiday activities, shopping
Daily activities and lifestyles, Celebrity and privacy, Types of houses, renting property,
Jobs and courses, Describing character, Describing antisocial behaviour, relationships,
Describing and dealing with conflict, Discussing sport, Colours and shades, clothes
(pattern, material, style), Phrasal verbs of travel and means of transport.
Food, taste and texture, discussion phrases, Verbs and expressions to talk about
money, Advertising and branding, expressions for memories and associations,
adjectives + noun collocations, expressions for recommending a place, Expressions
associated with travel, Houses, city life, ways of responding, phrasal verbs, extreme
adjectives, absolute adjectives
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