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In recent years, unlike other parts, part 3 listening of the NEC has remained unchanged. This part always
draws its source from the Part 3 Multiple-choice Listening in the CAE or CPE test, although the level of difficulty
varies each year. For example, part 3 in the NEC 2017 is pretty easy, yet that of the 2018 is not a simple task. This
part requires you to comprehend the long extract as a whole so it is not necessary to catch all the words. You will
often be asked about the opinions and points the speakers make. Sometimes, especially with tough questions,
inference is necessary to deduce the right answer. Here are some tips for this part.
1) Underline the key words in the questions prior to listening. While listening, look for synonyms and antonyms in the
extracts that match those in the questions since they can give you a strong hint.
2) Look for signposts while listening to these kinds of extract. The answers will not appear out of the blue. After
giving a lot of background information to confuse you, the speakers may drop some hints implying that they are
going to address the questions we need to answer before they actually do it. Make sure you are able to catch
this and prepare to listen carefully to the next part.
3) Some answers may seem obvious, but you should be careful and re-read the answers because misleading words
like “always”, “really” can be used to trick you.
4) If you are not sure about all 4 choices, infer yourself. Find a logical connection between the answer choices and
what you can hear.
5) Try to grasp the gist of the questions and answer choices before listening as the test designers sometimes
paraphrase the exercise by phasing in a lot of difficult words or idioms to blur the overall meaning.
Part 2 gap-filling in CAE/CPE also appears the test but the frequency is lower. However, we will still cover that
part in this course to leave nothing to chance. The part is not so hard but occasionally, even good listeners can
miss some words or choose the wrong words to fill in. The tips for this part are similar to those of IELTS gap-filling,
but with some additional advice.
1) Before listening, try to figure out what word form you are required to fill in (noun, verb, adjective,…). After you
have filled in, read the sentences again to see whether it has a proper meaning or not. Sometimes you may
accidentally leave out words and this may cost you points. For instance, if the answer key is “foregone conclusion”
and you only write “conclusion”, you will lose all the points.
2) You must maintain concentration all the time since the answers, unlike those of part 2, can come at any time.
3) Like IELTS listening, listen for the ending sounds and the tense of the sentence. Nouns in this part will usually
come in plural form.
ctic
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There are generally only 6 to 10 word formation questions in the NEC. However, failure to achieve a high score for
this type of question can drastically affect your final result.
In general, word formation questions of the NEC are fairly easier than those of the Olympic 30/4. Nonetheless,
examinees must have a good command of word formation knowledge as well as inferring skill in order to figure out
the correct answer.
Here are some tips for this type of question.
- Read through the entire given text, pay close attention - Leave an answer blank
to the context to determine what part of speech is - Rush through questions carelessly
required in each blank.
- Make sure that your answer is grammatically correct
and fits in with the sense of the sentence or text.
- Check your spelling carefully, incorrect spelling would
mean that your answer is incorrect.
- Make an educated guess if you cannot determine the
answer.
- Numerous word roots have multiple derivatives of the same part of speech whose meanings can be easily
confused (e.g., “personify” and “personalise” are both verbs and derivatives of the root word “person”).
- Occasionally, the same word can be used as different parts of speech, dependent on the given context (e.g.,
“answer” can be used as a verb or a noun).
1. Learn affixes. This can be helpful should you have to make a guess, since you can make affixations based
on context.
2. Look up derivatives of a word. When learning a new word, it is advisable that you try to find as many of its
derivatives as possible.
3. Build a word formation “database”. Keep a list of words and their derivatives so you can refer back to this
list if needed.
4. Read often and widely. When you encounter a new word, try to guess its meaning based on its affixation if
possible.
5. Practice makes perfect. Do a lot of exercises to practice as well as broaden your knowledge of word
formation.
6. Create your own word formation exercises as this can develop for you a mindset similar to that of a test
designer and provide you with new vocabulary as well.
7. Build up through your skills. To reinforce your pool of vocabulary, try to integrate your knowledge into your
writing or speaking parts.
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An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. The two primary kinds of
affix are prefix and suffix. Prefixes and suffixes that are used in English give clues as to the meaning and, or, the
function of words. A wide knowledge of affixes is the key to maximise your chance of achieving a high score for this
type of question.
Below is a list of affixes that are frequently tested in the NEC.
Each affix presented has a hyphen either at the beginning or the end. If the hyphen is at the beginning, then the
affix is a suffix. If the hyphen is at the end, then the affix is a prefix.
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
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Similarity Contrast
similarly however, nevertheless
in the same way yet
likewise on the other hand
as well as unlike
equally while/whereas
also although/even though
as … as … as opposed to
too in contrast/by contrast
in a similar way/fashion instead of
not only … but also … apart from/except for
2. Trends
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Part 1:
Read the following extract and use your own words to summarize it. Your summary should be between 100
and 120 words long.
Unusual incidents are being reported across the Arctic. Inuit families going off on snowmobiles to prepare their
summer hunting camps have found themselves cut off from home by a sea of mud, following early thaws. There are
reports of igloos losing their insulating properties as the snow drips and refreezes, of lakes draining into the sea as
permafrost melts, and sea ice breaking up earlier than usual, carrying seals beyond the reach of hunters. Climate
change may still be a rather abstract idea to most of us, but in the Arctic it is already having dramatic effects - if
summertime ice continues to shrink at its present rate, the Arctic Ocean could soon become virtually ice-free in
summer. The knock-on effects are likely to include more warming, cloudier skies, increased precipitation and higher
sea levels. Scientists are increasingly keen to find out what's going on because they consider the Arctic the 'canary
in the mine' for global warming - a warning of what's in store for the rest of the world.
For the Inuit the problem is urgent. They live in precarious balance with one of the toughest environments on earth.
Climate change, whatever its causes, is a direct threat to their way of life. Nobody knows the Arctic as well as the
locals, which is why they are not content simply to stand back and let outside experts tell them what's happening.
In Canada, where the Inuit people are jealously guarding their hard-won autonomy in the country's newest territory,
Nunavut, they believe their best hope of survival in this changing environment lies in combining their ancestral
knowledge with the best of modern science. This is a challenge in itself.
Part 2:
The table below gives information on consumer spending on different items in five different countries in
2002.
Describe the information in the table and make comparisons where relevant. You should write about 150
words.
Part 3:
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Relevant Vocabulary:
1. the bare essentials: the most basic and necessary things or activities.
2. sustain a population: to keep alive a population.
3. ozone depletion: the destruction of the upper atmospheric layer of ozone gas.
4. soil erosion: the displacement of the upper layer of soil.
5. perpetuate: to cause something to continue.
6. contingent on/upon something: depending on something in order to happen.
7. unsanitary: dirty and unhealthy.
8. in short supply: to be few or not enough in number.
9. non-biodegradable: not able to decay naturally.
10. carbon footprint: a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide that is produced by the daily activities of a
person or company
11. aquifers: underground, natural water stores
12. tainted: polluted or contaminated
13. logging: cutting down trees for timber and industrial use
14. food chain: the natural system of animals eating other animals and plants
15. irrigation: supplying water to land for agriculture
16. crop rotation: the process of using different fields each year to keep the soil healthy
17. animal husbandry: the skill of keeping animals
Examples:
Linfen, China, where residents say they literally choke on coal dust in the evenings, is one of the most polluted place
in the world and exemplifies many Chinese cities.
Six months after the 2010 BP oil spill, which affected 16,000 miles of U.S. coastline, over 8,000 animals were
reported dead.
Copenhagen prioritises bikes over cars and now has more cyclers than drivers.
3. SOCIETY
3.1. Globalization: Advantages and disadvantages (Source: https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-advantages-
and-disadvantages-of-Globalization)
Pros Cons
1. As globalization increases, more and more 1. Developed countries can take advantage of
companies are setting up businesses in other underdeveloped countries’ weak regulatory laws in
countries. This in turn increases the employment terms of environmental protection.
opportunities that people at one place have. 2. Small scale industries face extinction as they do not
2. With the increase in globalization, it has become have the resources or the power that the
easier for people to move across borders to multinational companies have.
different parts of the world to acquire better 3. Developing countries is facing a phenomenon
education. called “brain-drain”, where a huge chunk of youth is
3. An increase in free trade has opened doors for preferring jobs/education in the developed countries
investors in developed countries to invest their than their own.
money in developing countries. 4. Terrorism has soared in the globalised world.
4. Information flows from one part of the world to the 5. Globalisation can weaken and threaten national
other immediately, resulting in the world being tied identities
together.
5. As people move from one country to another,
barriers between various cultures tend to decrease.
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Good word usage:
1. judicious: sensible
2. foster: promote
3. pivotal role: very important role
4. educational outcomes: academic results, marks and achievements in general
5. inimical to sth: harmful to sth
6. In view of: considering sth
7. proclivity for sth: tendency for sth, often sth bad
8. preclusion: prevention of sth
9. concession mindset: a tendency to allow sb to do sth to end an argument
10. ineluctable: unavoidable
11. hallmark: a typical feature of sth/sb
12. delegate responsibility to sb: shift workload to sb
Ex 3:
In the technology-driven era, modern machinery has seemingly
infiltrated almost all aspects of human’s lives. Nevertheless, some
people deprecate this phenomenon and claim that this will exert
deleterious effects on mankind, which I wholeheartedly subscribe to. → state opinion right in the intro
The first and foremost rationale for my standpoint is the deprivation of → clear and straightforward topic
logical human thinking. Since modern people’s dependence on sentence in the form of a noun phrase
technology increases overtime, they will have a tendency to resort to
machines to tackle a multitude of life issues as it takes much less time
and effort. In the long run, should this practice persist for a certain → advanced grammar structure:
period of time, individuals’ capability for analytical and critical thinking invasion
will be eroded to a certain extent due to underuse . As a result, when
bereft of cutting-edge technology, people may struggle considerably to
solve their own problems by themselves. This can be witnessed in the
fact that a number of today students in manifold countries express → clarification of example: students’
strong preferences for Google and other online websites in order to over-reliance on technology
search for answers to their school assignments, which has induced
huge idleness among them. This has caused them to meet with colossal
difficulties when they are made to perform academic tasks without the
help of the Internet for example, during formal school examinations.
Thereby, humans’ lack of logical thinking is conceivable in the event of
→ reaffirment of topic sentence
overuse of modern machines.
→ linking word to introduce point
Increasing unemployment is another potential peril of humans’ over-
reliance on machines. In the current context, numerous corporations
make use of artificial intelligence and automation in lieu of human
labours owing to their superior working productivity and financial
savings from salaries to human employees. Consequently, both blue-
collar and white-collar workers from a variety of occupations, especially
manual jobs, will be made redundant in this robotic takeover, which
will place those people in a great dilemma to eke out a living. China
and India are cases in point. Upon the widespread invasion of
→ clarification of example:
automation, these two most populous countries in the world have been
unemployment in China and India due
forced to reduce the number of manual and blue-collar workers by
to technology
millions and are anticipated to cut back more on this section workforce
in the long term. This situation has robbed many Chinese and Indian
people of future job opportunities and incomes. This also potentially
destroys these nations’ long-standing strive for poverty reduction,
considering the constantly growing population of China and India . This
→ reaffirment of topic sentence
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Sample Answers
Ex 1:
The reading extract sheds light on the battle against climate change that the Inuit is fighting. Unprecedented
events such as premature thaws, snow dripping and lake draining have resulted in many repercussions. For
instance, igloos’ insulating characteristics are subsiding and no longer are seals within reach of the hunters. These
severe implications have raised the alarm about climate change for the word and thus, piqued the curiosity of
scientists. Climate change poses a serious threat to the survival of the Inuit, whose living conditions are
excruciatingly tough. The indigenous people have no intention of being manipulated since they are both
knowledgeable and possessive about their territory. To resolve climate change, they rely on the integration of
traditional and modern wisdom, which is another issue to address.
Ex 2:
The given table gives an insight into the expenditure patterns of consumers on three categories of products
and services in 2002. Overall, all five countries featured in the survey share a common trend: the budget on
food/drinks/tobacco is the largest and the reverse is applicable to leisure/education.
A closer look reveals that Turkey and Ireland stood out as nations which possessed the highest percentage
spending on food/drinks/tobacco, at 32.14% and 28.91% respectively. With regard to leisure/education, Turkey
also topped the table as its consumers devoted about 4% of their budget to this segment. On the other hand,
Ireland and Spain attached little of their resources to leisure/education: the former spent only 2.21% whilst the
latter’s figure languished at 1.98% only. It is noteworthy that in respect to clothing/footwear, Italians were the ones
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART ONE: LISTENING .............................................................................................................................................. 3
IELTS LISTENING.................................................................................................................................................... 3
CAE, CPE LISTENING ............................................................................................................................................. 9
NEWS LISTENING ................................................................................................................................................. 17
LISTENING CONSOLIDATION ............................................................................................................................. 28
GRAMMAR ............................................................................................................................................................ 30
VOCABULARY ....................................................................................................................................................... 44
WORD FORMATION ............................................................................................................................................. 49
LEXICO CONSOLIDATION ................................................................................................................................... 59
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