Writing and Speaking Tests

APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER

1.       Write your comment on the proverb «Appearances are deceitful”.
2. Describe a quality of one of the members of your family you appre­ciate.
3. Describe the qualities you like about your friends. What qualities do you think they appreciate in you?
4. Write a brief description of qualities you like and dislike about pe­ople most of all.
5.       What qualities would you like to find in a person you fall in love with?
6. What changes do you expect to find in yourself, say, in ten years' time?
7. Write a description of some famous person without mentioning his name. Concentrate on basic peculiarities of the person's appearan­ce and manners so that he could be identified without error.
8.       Write a short description of a person who is your ideal of beauty.
9.       What kind of appearance is unpleasant to you?

10. Describe a person who is getting old or is not healthy. What his ap­pearance looks like?
11. Discuss the statement "inner beauty is more important than physi­cal beauty" in groups.
12.       Discuss the typical features of Ukrainians.
13. Discuss real people you find interesting. Bring out clearly their most
    prominent individual traits.

FAMILY

1.     Write a short life history of someone in your family.
2. Each family has its favourite stories about something good or bad which happened to its members. What about your family?
3.     Write your comment on the proverb: "Like mother, like daughter".
4. Write a paragraph about what you used to do in your childhood and what you don't do any more.
5.     Describe your would-be family life as you fancy it.
6. Have you ever thought about the existing standards and views on raising children?
7.     Write a paragraph about your image of an ideal family.
8. Write a paragraph about a parent-child problems and the ways to solve them.
9.     Write your comment on the followings:

Who must keep house, bring up children in a family?
 Does a family need a leader? Why?

    Should a young couple receive help from parents and other re­latives? What kind of help?

What is necessary to create good atmosphere in a family?

11.      Explain how you understand the expression «Love in a cottage"?
12.      Describe a general portrait of a happy married couple?

13. Sometimes people say that little children bring small problems, but elder children bring much bigger problems. Do you agree with this? What do you think it depends upon?
14. Everyone in the family has a routine or habit that someone doesn't like. Think of the routines in your house. Make a list of them, starting with your own.

15.      Discuss the problem of mothers who have little children and need working.
16. Write a story or play called "Grandmother Comes to Stay". You should think of how her coming will affect all the members of the family and lead, perhaps, to a certain amount of conflict. For instance, you may have to give up your bedroom, and father may find that his out­ing will become rather limited. Mother will undoubtedly have more work to do.
17. Write a letter to you favourite aunt telling her that your parents have practically decided to move house to another part of the town. You do not want to go because you like your present house and have many friends near by. Ask your aunt to try to persuade your parents to stay where they are. Write also your aunt's reply.
18. Think of a situation where the father of the family loses his job and has little chance of finding another one in the near future. Family expenditure will have to be cut. Set the scene in the living-room in the evening, when the family discusses what is to be done. Try to invent a solution to the problem. Write this play.
19. Imagine that you are a foreign child just arrived in Ukraine and you are going to live in an Ukrainian family for 2—3 weeks. Write a diary of your thoughts and feelings and experiences for the first week af­ter your arrival.
20. Your parents have gone away for 2 days, leaving you in charge of the house and of your small brother or sister. Inevitably things go wrong - - the washbasin overflows, the neighbour's dog, after a run in the rain, gets into the best room, the chimney catches fire, the electric kettle boils dry, etc. Write an account of how you coped with some of these disasters or invent others of your own as you please.

 

HOME

1. Write an account of a home that is very dif­ferent from your own.
2. Write an account of your ideal home. You ay regard your own home as ideal; in that case, describe it. Remember that a home s not merely a house.
3. Write an advertisement for your flat/house o let. Say about its conveniences, location and price.
4. Your friend has recently moved into a new house/flat. He's been renting an apartment before. He wrote a letter to you describing is new house/flat and his new feelings. What are they?
5. Imagine that you are a landlord/landlady who lets out a room to a student. Describe the rules the student should observe while li­ving in your flat.
6. Work in pairs. Speak to the landlord about some problems in the apartment you live in.
7. You are to rent a country cottage for your family. Phone the landla­dy and ask her all possible questions.
8.  Imagine that your parents are leaving for holidays and want you to take care of domestic chores. Write a memo about what your pa­rents want you to do while they are away from home.
9. Describe what kind of housework you like and dislike doing and gi­ve yours reasons.
10. Imagine you're going to plan and decorate your living-room/kitchen/bedroom. You have decided to consult the interior designer Make up a dialogue.
11. You are throwing a house-warming party. Arrange the programme of the party.
12. Is there a difference between living in a house in the country and living in a flat in the city? Which do you prefer?
13. Speak about the advantages or disadvantages of:

1.     having a country house;
2.     having a telephone at home.

14.  Dwell on the proverb "East or West, home is best".

15. Imagine you are a real estate agent. Try to demonstrate the house to your client.

16. Imagine, that you have asked your parents for perhaps, a new bi­cycle, or tape recorder, or    football, or dress, etc, which they think you should not have at the moment. Script the conversation between yourselves and your parents, each of whom might have a different
    attitude to your request. You may bring in grandparents, an elder sister, or a brother if you wish. Try to make each person give a good argument to support his or her point of view.
17. Your parents have gone away for the day, leaving you in charge of the house and or your small brother or sister. Inevitably things go wrong - the washbasin overflows, the neighbours dog, after a run in the rain, gets into the best room, the chimney catches fire, the
    electric kettle boils dry, etc. Write an account of how you coped with some of these disasters or invent others of your own as you please.
18. About 4 o'clock one morning a strong smell of smoke penetrates Mrs. Green's bedroom.    She takes immediate action to find out what is burning. Write the story of what happened.
19. You are talking to a person from another part of the world which differs greatly from the region where you live. Ask him for informa­tion about his region. Ask where it is situated, if it is beautiful, what interesting places one can visit there and so on.
20.  Say about the problem of homelessness and poverty. Why many people find themselves without a roof over their heads? Who home­less people are? Name the ways of solving the problems of the homeless.