Read the text. Which paragraph contains each point? Write A-F. Some paragraphs may be used twice. The Foreign Student’s Guidebook
Blogger Aigul Anuarova studies politics and international relations at a university in London, UK. In this post, she offers a glimpse into the world of university interviews.
A University interviews are the subject of urban legends — from the professor who sits back, folds his or her arms and simply says ‘impress me’, to the philosophy student who was asked to throw a brick through a window (legend has it, he threw it, shattered the window, and didn’t get a place because, he was told, a philosophical thinker would have opened the window first!).
B As a student from abroad, I was naturally terrified when I arrived in London for my own interview. I kept asking myself why I had decided to travel all the way here to study when I could have gone to university back home in Kazakhstan. As you can imagine, I was really stressed. The other students that were being interviewed must have been terrified too, but at least they were native English speakers, while I was using a foreign language the whole time. Nevertheless, I survived, and you can too!
C There is no one formula for a university interview. When I started writing this blog post, I asked all of my friends about their experiences, and their answers varied. Some of them described drinking tea with their future professor and chatting about ancient vases, while others said they sat shaking in a chair while three interviewers asked them lots of difficult questions. What can I say? Some interviewers want to know you as a person, others want to check if you have good subject knowledge, while others just want to see some logical thinking.
D As with any event that has the power to change the course of your entire life (scared yet?), it goes without saying that you want to make a good impression by turning up on time, dressing reasonably smartly and knowing at least a little bit about what you’re doing and why you’re there. At some point, you’re going to be asked why you want to study your subject and why you chose that university. If these are both things you really want to do, you shouldn’t need more than a bit of thought to answer these questions (helpful tip: saying ‘my parents are making me apply’ doesn’t tend to go down too well).
E Then, you find yourself in the situation that everybody dreads: your interview turns to you and asks you something weird, so unrelated to your subject, that you are lost for words: ‘How do you know the moon isn’t made of cheese?’; ‘What do you think about bananas?’; ‘Describe a sound that doesn’t exist yet.’ I know, you’re going to think I’m making these up, but they’re actually real questions that some of my classmates were asked in their interviews – I was one of the lucky ones that wasn’t.
F Remember, your interviewer isn’t really waiting for a correct answer (and often there isn’t one). They don’t actually expect you to know the exact population of a small village off the top of your head (even if that’s what they appear to be asking you). These kind of questions are to see what you can come up with when you need to think on your feet, and they are a chance to show how your brain works — can you think outside the box or is your main skill reciting a class textbook off by heart? So, don’t panic and be confident in your abilities, stop for a moment so that you can think about what you want to say, then answer as well as you can.
1. Evidence of a broad range of different experiences. 2. The logic behind a particular interview technique. 3. An extra difficulty the writer had compared to others. 4. The writer’s awareness of how ridiculous something sounds. 5. A story which may or may not be true. 6. Evidence that someone might have regretted a decision. 7. Information that the writer thinks should be self-evident.
Read the task
Finding it hard to remember important facts and figures? Improve your memory in 10 weeks with our Improve Your Memory class. Places are limited and the course is available for only a short time.
You see the above advertisement for a course designed to help improve your memory. Write a letter to the organizer of the course. In the letter:
• give some background information about yourself
• explain your own problems and why you would like to do the course
• enquire about the methods used on the course
• enquire about course fees and dates
You should write at least 150 words. You do not need to write any addresses. Use the plan below:

sveta19772011owor7w    1   12.12.2020 03:34    32