You may expect that I’m laying on the beach everyday, sunbathing and keeping an eye out for surfer girls. But the first eleven weeks of my Asia-Pacific trip are not as relaxing as people might assume. To achieve my goal in passing the CAE exam on the 17th of March a lot of work needs to be done. In addition to my 25 lessons a week at the Lexis English school I need to do a lot of homework.
I’ve had my first CAE mock exam last week, which was split up in five categories – Writing, Reading, Use of English, Listening and Speaking. The test results enabled me to determine my English skills and to see if I’m on my way to pass the CAE. I’m very satisfied with the overall result of 76 %, which would be a B grade. But if I want to achieve the highest level in the CEFR I need to pass the CAE with an A grade or more specifically 80 % and above. This level represents the mastery or proficiency of a language.
If you’re wondering how a CAE test might look like I will show you a task from the writing part followed by my article as the corresponding answer. You’ll just get 45 minutes to read all four tasks, then you need to choose one task and write approximately 220 – 260 words. According to your chosen task this could be for example an article, a proposal, a report or an information sheet. Therefore you don’t have plenty time and you must work quickly and efficiently.
Enjoy the reading.
Task – Write an article
A technology magazine, International Technology Today, has asked its readers to submit articles on the impact of mobile phones on modern society. In your article, you should discuss the different personal and business uses of mobile phones and assess the advantages and disadvantages of this technology.
Impact of mobile phones on modern society
The aim of this article is to discuss the personal and business uses of cellular phones and their advantages and disadvantages.
Almost every reader would agree that the communication technology has changed our way of loving dramatically over the last two decades. Mobile phones were dedicated to a small range of CEO’s in their early stage of development and its main purpose was to enable businessmen to stay in touch with their partners and company – anytime and anywhere!
Nowadays, cellulars are affordable to almost anyone. Calling your beloved partner, rearranging meetings just before they start or finding someone easily in a crowded place are just a few of the many advantages provided by this technology. But it also has its drawbacks. People expect that you need to stay on wire (almost all) around the clock. It doesn’t matter anymore if you are on holiday or enjoying your sunday’s family picnic. This development leads to people being unable to “switch-off” and generates more stress.
But the device itself has also undergone a lot of changes over its lifetime. It is not a basic phone anymore, just enabling the user to make calls and text messages. In fact, it is much more powerful than average users expect. Smartphones, like the iPhone, are providing a platform to customers, highly customizable to everyone’s needs. If you get lost in a foreign town you will find your hotel easily. Just install some navigation software over the air to your smartphone, and the lovely woman’s voice, coming out of the tiny speaker, will guide you reliably to your destination.
But be aware – the sword is double-edged. Smartphones are not as easy to use as the old intuitive mobile phones. Their long lists of features are often also their doom, resulting in very complex user interaction and handling, where non digital-natives especially can’t cope that easily.
