Guide to using the tests

Welcome to The Business Pre-intermediate tests. These tests reflect the content of the units in The
Business Pre -intermediate Student’s Book. They have also been designed to reflect the content
and level of the Cambridge ESOL BEC Preliminary examination. The structure of the tests,
which cover the four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking, and the range of question
types, are similar to those in the examination and include topics and vocabulary specified in the
BEC Preliminary syllabus. There are two types of test:
• Eight Progress Tests for units 1-8
• Two Review Tests, one for units 1-4 and one for units 5-8
Progress Tests
There are eight progress tests, one after each unit, with four parts to each test, Reading, Writing,
Listening and Speaking. The time needed to do each test will depend on individual classes and on
the administration of the Speaking section. Guide times are given for the other parts of the tests.
Part 1 Reading – Two tasks 20 points
Task 1 – One text on a unit topic
Question types include Right/Wrong/Does not say, Multiple choice and Cloze
Task 2 – One text related to the unit topic
Question types – Gap-fill to test the unit grammar or vocabulary
Time: 30 minutes

Part 2 Writing – Two tasks 10 points

Task 1 – One short email composition task (30-40 words)
An impression mark of between 0 and 5 is given (see marking guidelines below).
Task 2 – Sentence writing (five sentences)
Question types: Sentence transformation and sentence construction using given words.
Time: 15 minutes
Part 3 Listening – Two tasks 15 points
Tasks 1 and 2 – Based on the coursebook listening texts
Questions types: ABC Multiple choice, Summary completion (word or number), Summary
completion (one or two words), Phrase completion, True or false
Time: 20 minutes
Part 4 Speaking – One task 5 points
Individually, students do one mini-presentation task from a choice of three given. They are given
prompts to base their mini presentations on and time to prepare what they are going to say. A
choice of three topics is given to provide task variety.
Ideally, the teacher should listen to the presentations student by student in a separate room.
In smaller classes the presentations can be given to the whole class and marked by the teacher.
Alternatively, in larger classes, the presentations could be delivered in small groups, with the
students marking their peers.
An impression mark of between 0 and 5 is given for each presentation (see guidelines below).
The time taken for this part of the test will depend on the number of students.

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Review Tests
There are two longer Review Tests – one after Unit 4 and one after Unit 8. These test the course
materials in the previous four units, and are double the length of the Progress Tests.
Part 1 Reading – Four texts 40 points
Questions types as in the Progress Tests
Time: 1 hour
Part 2 Writing – Two text composition tasks 20 points
Task 1 – One shorter more informal email composition task (30-40 words)
Task 2 – One longer more formal email composition task (60-80 words)
Time: 30 minutes
Part 3 Listening – Four tasks, question types as in the Progress Tests 30 points
Time: 40 minutes
Part 4 Speaking – Two tasks 10 points
Task 1 – A mini presentation – similar to those in the Progress Tests
Task 2 – A group discussion task
As with the Progress Tests the teacher should ideally listen to the discussions and mini
presentations group by group in a separate room. In smaller classes the discussions and mini
presentations can be done in front of the whole class and marked by the teacher.
The time taken for this part of the test will depend on the number of students.
Overall timing of the Review Tests will depend on the class and how the Speaking section is
administered, but it will be between two and three hours. This reflects the lengths of the Business
English Certificate (BEC) examination.
Marking the tests
Marks are indicated on the tests themselves for each section of the test. The Answer Key for the
tests contains the answers for Reading and Speaking. For marking Writing composition tasks and
Speaking see guidelines below.
Writing
For the composition tasks, marks should be given for both task achievement and communicative
quality. Credit should be given where students have attempted to use difficult grammar and
vocabulary. The following areas can be considered when marking the students’ written work:
• Content
• Accuracy
• Range of grammar and vocabulary structures
• Organisation and cohesion
• Effect on target reader
Speaking
The following areas can be considered when marking the students’ mini presentations:
• Grammar and vocabulary
• Coherence and content
• Pronunciation
In the discussions in Speaking Part 2 in the Review Tests the following can also be marked:
• Interactive Communication

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