The four Language/Learning Focus sections in the first part of the book are designed to raise students' awareness of key language skills, to enable them to see the relevance of these skills to the CAE exam, and to encourage them to play as active a part as possible in their own learning. | Unit 14 Testing Times Focus on Listening How to Prepare for Exams interviewer How can we survive exams It s a horrible period for all of us but is there anything we can do to help ourselves to survive teacher Um well I think the most important thing about examinations is that you prepare for them. interviewer You re talking about revision teacher No I don t mean in terms of study-prepare. Of course you do that. It goes without saying or I would hope it goes without saying. No I mean the actual day of the exams you ve got to prepare for that. There are all those little things that people tend to forget because they re under stress. Make sure you have a good night s sleep beforehand. I ve seen on a number of occasions people who are so stressed out by exams that they re up most of the previous night cramming and studying heavily. But the result is that by the time they get to the exams they re mentally exhausted and they don t well they can t do themselves justice. interviewer That might be easier said than done of course. I mean I know from my own experience that even if you make a point of turning in early before an important exam you can still find yourself tossing and turning in the small hours going over some topic or other in your head. TEACHER Yeah sure but you have to learn to switch off. It s no good closing your books one minute and expecting to drop off to sleep the next. You have to unwind. I m a great believer in the notion that anything that calms you down is good . INTERVIEWER Such as teacher Well you know yoga relaxation techniques listening to music anything like that. Even watching something mindless on TV for a bit. It s crucial you see that you are on top form when the big day comes. It s a performance art really. You get a finite period of time two or three hours in which you have to perform. You don t get another go at it. So you ve got to get it right first time. interviewer And have you any tips for the day of the exam teacher Er well .
