Michigan Proficiency First Steps

Reviews / Votes

Introduction About the Michigan ECPE: Overview - Results - ECPE writing criteria 1. Artistic Attributes Cloze Remembering the Beatles Vocabulary round-up Grammar Think grammar! Tackling ECPE grammar questions Reading Picasso the poet Vocabulary round-up Vocabulary Extension and review Expressing passionate (and not so passionate) intensity Body language (compound adjectives) Writing ECPE writing criteria (1) Mechanics (punctuation - spelling - capitalization) Rhetoric (organization of ideas - topic development - linking) 2 Females at their finest Cloze Jackie: A remarkable First Lady Vocabulary round-up Grammar Relative clauses Tackling relative clause questions on the ECPE Reading Jessica: A joyful girl pilot Vocabulary round-up Vocabulary Extension and review Shades of shyness - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - A "look back" at the -spec in retrospect Writing ECPE writing criteria (2) Grammar and syntax Vocabulary Vocabulary consolidation 1 3 Echoing eco themes Cloze Extinction: Palms under threat Vocabulary round-up Grammar Verb-tense questions Adjusting your expectations of ECPE verb-tense questions Reading Evolution: The giraffe's neck Vocabulary round-up Vocabulary Extension and review Long, longer, longest - Short, shorter, shortest - Idioms with long and short Writing For and against (1) Rhetoric: Structuring your essay (the "tell them" prototype) The "for and against" essay: Zoos / Protecting endangered species 4 Amazing adaptations Cloze Whirly bird: The red-necked phalarope Vocabulary round-up Grammar Frequently tested verb structures Learning to recognize and cope with verb-structure questions Reading Heating things up: The sacred lotus Vocabulary round-up Vocabulary Extension and review Spreading out - The more things change, the more they stay the same - Subtle differences Writing For and against (2) Featured topic: Ecotourism Vocabulary consolidation 2 5 Weighty health problems Cloze Obesity on the rise Vocabulary round-up Grammar Easily confused word forms Tackling questions with easily confused word forms Reading Public health enemy number 1 Vocabulary round-up Vocabulary Extension and review Overweight and underweight - Good and bad Writing The opinion essay (1) Featured topic: Weighing in on the "fat tax" HEALTH AND MEDICINE 3 Contents Skill area Topic Featured subjects Is there a doctor in the house? Cloze Asthma alert Vocabulary round-up Grammar Participle clauses Coping with items that involve participle clauses Reading A new kind of med school Vocabulary round-up Vocabulary Extension and review Emergency room - Doctor, doctor! - Other medical descriptors Writing The opinion essay (2) Featured topic: Banning smoking in public places Vocabulary consolidation 3 7 Devastating disasters Cloze Eruption: "Vancouver, this is it!" Vocabulary round-up Grammar Easily confused phrases Becoming sensitive to similar phrases with different meanings Reading Oily messes: Slicks and spills Vocabulary round-up Vocabulary Extension and review Speaking of spills - Sound like ... - Figuratively speaking Writing The problem/solution essay (1) Featured topic: Are we ready for the next "big one"? 8 Rubbish! Cloze Amazing mountains of trash Vocabulary round-up Grammar Impersonal vs. personal constructions Tackling items that test impersonal and personal constructions Reading The secret life of tires Vocabulary round-up Vocabulary Extension and review What's left over - Catastrophic collocations Writing The problem/solution essay (2) Featured topic: Think outside the recycling bin! Vocabulary consolidation 4 9 Innovative inventors Cloze Henry Ford: A tinkerer for all times Vocabulary round-up Grammar The subjunctive, inversion, and so/such Points to remember about the subjunctive, inversion, and so/such Reading Thomas Edison: A classic innovator Vocabulary round-up Vocabulary Extension and review Ahead of the times, behind the times - Greek time, Roman time - TIme out for time expressions Writing Tasks that don't quite fit the mold Featured topic: What makes an invention successful? 10 Inventive innovations Cloze Online: The "new normal" Vocabulary round-up Grammar Subordinators and other linking words Recognizing and tackling items with missing linking words Reading Road gizmos: Botts' dots Vocabulary round-up Vocabulary Extension and review The brain vs. mind debate - Computer verbs Writing Time management Developing a time-management approach to ECPE writing Vocabulary consolidation 5 TECHNOLOGY Exam practice (GCVR and Writing) Extra activities (crossword puzzles, word jumbles, Internet survey) Grammar reference