B1 PET

B1 Preliminary (PET)

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FOUR SKILLS

Listening

Speaking

Reading

Writing

Idioms

Phrasal verbs

Grammar and Use of English

Idioms

Go back to the drawing board

Under the weather

To be on top of the world

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it

Let someone off the hook

To make a long story short

The best of both worlds

Miss the boat

The last straw

Hang in there

To go ballistic

Cut somebody some slack

To make matters worse

Idioms

The ball is in your court

A blessing in disguise

Call it a day

Fit as a fiddle

Much of a muchness

Beat around the bush

Better late than never

Break a leg

Bite the bullet

Your guess is as good as mine

Get out of hand

Get your act together

To pull someone's leg

It's not rocket science

Idioms

Phrasal verbs

Work out

Take away

Get in

Add up

Get back

Carry out

Look around

Blow up

Cut up

give up

Save up

Check in

Go away

Phrasal verbs

Set off

Pick up

Get on well

Look after

Look up to

Hang out

Split up

Come round

Fall out

Set off

Make up

Pick up

Speaking

Sample tests

Speaking

Part 1

What's your name? How old are you? Where do you live? Who do you live with?

Speaking

Part 2: You have 1 minute to speak about a picture

Speaking

Part 2: You have 1 minute to speak about a picture

In the first place, I can see a boy playing guitar in the street (he is busking). He has for blond and curly hair 's, and he's wearing a blue jacket and brown trousers. In the background, I can see a lot of people too. All of them are wearing winter clothes so it's probably cold.

People

Objects

I can also see a market on the left, some boxes and a sign. In front of the boy there is a box with money.

Opinion and speculating

I think people are buying things and food at the market, and it must be a good one because it's crowded. The boy is probably having a good time, and maybe he wants to buy something with the money in the box.

Speaking

Part 3: Discussion

You have to think about the names of the activities (ENDING IN -ING)

• DON'T MAKE A DECISION STRAIGHT AWAY
• DISCUSS ALL THE OPTIONS
• MAKE A FINAL DECISION

Speaking

Part 3: Discussion

USE BUT, WHILE, WHEREAS TO COMPARE

Speaking

Part 4

Speaking

Parts 1 and 4

Easy To Use Expressions

• Once in a blue moon (I only go swimming once in a blue moon)
• Keen on (I’m really keen on boxing)
• Piece of cake (I find learning English a piece of cake!)
• My cup of tea (Football isn’t really my cup of tea)
• To drive one up the wall (Bad weather drives me up the wall!)
• Can’t Bear / Stand (I really can’t stand basketball!)
• To be fed up with (I am really fed up of this rain!)

Getting out of a jam

• Sorry, I meant...
• I wanted to say...
• I don’t know the word, but it’s a type / kind of...
• The word escapes me, but...

Speaking practice

• Individual questions

• Photo description

• Discussion

• Environment questions

• Present perfect questions

Reading

Grammar & Use of English

• Somewhere, anyone, nothing

• Comparative and superlative

• Modals

• Order of adjectives

• Conditionals

• So do I, neither do I

• Do and make

• Past tenses

• Reported speech

• Adjectives and prepositions

• Do, make, go, have

• Present simple and continuous

• Review

• Gerund and infinitive

• Present perfect

• Past simple or present perfect?

• The future

• Have you ever...?

• Phrasal verbs and expressions

• Prepositions of place

• A, an, the, -

• Relative clauses

• Past simple and continous

• Used to or past simple

Grammar & Use of English

• Common mistakes

• Fill in the gaps 1

• Fill in the gaps 2

• Multiple choice

• Word order

• Phrasal verbs B1-B2

Listening

Writing

Story

Email

Article

CONNECTORS

Organising connectors

Reason, purpose and result connectors

Contrast connectors

Addition connectors

• Because (of)
• As
• Since
• So
• Therefore,
• In order to

• Regarding + noun
• As for + noun
• Firstly,
• Secondly,
• On the one hand,
• On the other hand,

• But
• Although
• In spite of + noun/ despite + noun
• However,

• Also
• Too
• In addition
• Moreover
• Besides

Writing checklist

Verbs and grammarSpellingMain aim of the text Linkers Punctuation and capitalisation B1 vocabulary B1 idiom or expression Phrasal verbs

Common mistakes

I think is important > I think it's importantI'm very badly doing water skiing > I'm very bad at water skiing Is so bored for me > From my point of view, it's so boring I prefer do others things > I prefer doing other things You can use it free > You can use it for free I recomend you to bring > I recommend (that) you bring / I recommend bringing Meet with my friends > meet my friends (meet with es solo para reuniones) Since young, I don't like take photos > Since I was a child, I have never liked taking photos. / When I was young, I didn't like taking photos. The last year > Last year I like the football because it's funny > I like footbal because it's fun.

EMAIL

You need connectors

1)Greeting Hello/Hi + Name or Dear Mr./Ms. + Surname, 2)Body of email It’s great to hear from you/ Thank you for writing.

• PARAGRAPH 1: First of all, ...
• PARAGRAPH 2: Secondly, ...
• PARAGRAPH 3: As for (noun), ... / Regarding (noun), ...

3) Closing formula All the best,/ Take care, / Regards, / Love, / Write soon, Name

Every sentence needs a subject

No repetition of words

Practice here!

Offering to do somethingIf you want, I/we could …Shall I/we …Do you want me/us to …?

EMAIL: Useful language

Reacting to previous email

• I’m glad/happy/sorry to hear that …
• Thanks a lot for letting me know that
• What great/fantastic/brilliant/wonderful news!
• That’s awful / a pity / unfortunate!

Apologising for something

• I’m sorry for (+-ing verb)
• I apologise for (+-ing verb)
• I (really) didn’t mean to (+ infinitive)

Making a suggestion/recommendation

• I suggest (+-ing verb )
• How about (+-ing verb)?
• Why don’t you/we …?
• Don’t you think we can…?
• Don’t miss (+ noun)
• I highly recommend (+-ing)

Agreeing / Disagreeing

• I agree/disagree (with you).
• I couldn’t agree more.
• I (don’t) think so.I think you’re right.

Explaining something

• That’s why …
• This means …
• For example / For instance

Offering to do something

• If you want, I/we could …
• Shall I/we …?
• Do you want me/us to …?

EMAIL: sample

EMAIL: sample

STORY

DON'T FORGET! You need to think about some type of problem to include in your story!

You need connectors

1)Title 2)Paragraph 1: BEGINNINGContinue the sentence you are giving, creating a context.3) Paragraph 2: MIDDLE After/before that,... / When/ While/ As soon as/ Suddenly, ... 4) Paragraph 3: END A few hours/days later, .../ Finally,...

Every sentence needs a subject

No repetition of words and PAST TENSE

STORY: sample

Your English teacher has asked you to write a story. Your story must begin with the sentence:

While I was leaving the shop, the security guard stopped me.

STORY: sample

The security guardWhile I was leaving the shop, the security guard stopped me. Everyone was looking at me and I felt very embarrassed. The guard asked me to follow her into her office. After that, she asked ‘Have you bought anything here today?’. I felt so frightened that I couldn’t remember. She asked me to open my bag and show her what was inside. As soon as I put my hand in my bag I remembered. ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I bought a scarf for my mum. It’s her birthday tomorrow. I’m sure I paid for it.’ Finally, I found the receipt in my purse. I was so happy I almost hugged the guard!

MORE INFO HERE

ARTICLE

You need connectors

1) Title 2) Introduction You can use a rhetorical question (for example: "Would you like to be famous?" or start by "Nowadays, it is said that ..." + interesting fact or advantage 3) Paragraph Answer the questions, but make the article interesting! 4) Conclusion In my opinion, .../From my point of view, ...

Every sentence needs a subject

No repetition of words

ARTICLE: sample

ARTICLE: sample

A busy week Do you have trouble getting to the end of the week? According to experts, this might be because teenagers nowadays are busier than ever. After a great weekend with my friends and family, I often wake up feeling depressed on Monday mornings. However, the feeling doesn’t last long as I think about Saturday. Usually, it is on Saturday when I can play football and hang out with my friends, so it’s definitely my favourite day of the week. From my point of view, teenagers should relax and enjoy on Saturday so that they can start the week with positive energy.

MORE INFO HERE

Dar por finalizado

Terminemos por hoy

More info here!

No hay mal que por bien no venga

Todo tiene su parte buena al final

More info here!

Ya veremos

Cuando llegue el momento, decicimos.

More info here!

La pelota está en tu tejado

Te toca decidirte.

More info here!

La pelota está en tu tejado

Te toca decidirte.

More info here!

Dar a alguien un respiro

No seas tan duro y dame un respiro, anda.

More info here!

Irse por las ramas

O lo que es lo mismo: andarse con rodeos para evitar algo.

More info here!

Hacer de tripas corazón

O lo que es lo mismo: hacer algo aunque no quieras (porque debes hacerlo)

More info here!

No tengo ni idea

No lo seeeee

More info here!

¡Has estado muy cerca! Vuélvelo a intentar.

¡Has estado muy cerca! Vuélvelo a intentar.

Bromear

Tomarle el pelo a alguien

More info here!

¡Has estado muy cerca! Vuélvelo a intentar.

Para colmo/ Encima

Hoy he perdido 10 euros y, "to make matters worse", se me ha roto el móvil.

More info here!

Tener todas las ventajas

Lo mejor de cada casa, vaya.

More info here!

Dejar que alguien se vaya de rositas

Dejar ir cuando hay una situación complicada

More info here!

Estar como una rosa

En muy buena forma

More info here!

¡Has estado muy cerca! Vuélvelo a intentar.

Perder el tren

Dejar escapar una oportunidad

More info here!

¡Has estado muy cerca! Vuélvelo a intentar.

Cabrearse mucho

Como cuando sacas un 4,9 en un examen y tienes que repetirlo.

More info here!

La pelota está en tu tejado

¡Tú decides!

More info here!

Buena suerte

Lo mismo que "Good luck" pero más fancy

More info here!

La gota que colma el vaso

Mi paciencia se ha agotado.

More info here!

Empezar de nuevo

"Try again!"

More info here!

Mejor tarde que nunca

Ya sabes: más vale tarde que nunca

More info here!

Irse de las manos

Cuando las cosas se descontrolan

More info here!

Encontrarse mal

Como cuando tienes dolor de cabeza y tienes que estudiar

More info here!

Ponerse las pilas

Organizarse y empezar a hacer lo que se debe hacer

More info here!

Muy similar

¡Casi iguales!

More info here!

No es algo del otro mundo

No tienes que ser un genio para saberlo porque no es tan complicado

More info here!

Resumiendo

Cuando quieres decir qué pasó al final

More info here!

¡Aguanta!

No te rindas ("don't give up!")

More info here!

¡Has estado muy cerca! Vuélvelo a intentar.

Estar muy contento/a

Super, super, super "happy"

More info here!