Prime Time 7, Coursebook plus Semester Self-checks

S Semester self-checks Tip • • This section helps you to find out if you have acquired the competences which you should have learned in each unit. • • In order to do the tasks successfully you have to combine the four skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing). • • Take your time. It is important that you find out what you are able to do and what you need to work on. • • Useful tips, the keys and the audio scripts can be found on the CDROM in your textbook. T Unit 1: The British today Reading–writing: Boris Johnson’s secret pro-EU article revealed (B2) a) First, read the following article about Boris Johnson, a British politician. 1  5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 It has turned out that Boris Johnson, the former London mayor who campaigned prominently for the UK’s departure from the European Union, may have had his doubts. In a previously unpublished column, which he wrote in February 2016, Johnson urged Britain to stay in the EU, just two days before he came out against the Remain campaign. “Britain is a great nation, a global force for good,” he wrote in the column published by The Sunday Times . “It is surely a blessing for the world and for Europe that Britain should be intimately engaged in the EU.” He also warned that Brexit would cause an “economic shock” that could lead to the “breakup” of the United Kingdom. “Shut your eyes. Hold your breath. Think of Britain. Think of the rest of the EU,” he wrote. “Think of the future, think of the desire of your children and your grandchildren to live and work in other European countries, to sell things there, to make friends and perhaps to find partners there.” Despite his doubts, Johnson went on to become a leading figure in the campaign to leave the EU, which won a tight victory in June 2016. Prime Minister Theresa May appointed him foreign secretary only weeks later. Speaking to reporters, Johnson played down his article, insisting he wrote it to test his resolve. “I was wrestling with it like I think a lot of people in this country, and I wrote a long piece which came down overwhelmingly in favour of leaving,” he said. “I then thought if I can make an alternative case to myself, wrote a kind of semi-parodic article in the opposite sense, which has mysteriously found its way into the papers, because I think I might have sent it to a friend.” Johnson, talking to members of Parliament, insisted the UK could get a trade deal that is “of greater value” to the economy than access to the EU single market, which he described as an “increasingly useless concept”. In Johnson’s pro-EU column, however, he had supported membership of the free trade zone. “This is a market on our doorstep ready for further exploitation by British firms. The membership fee seems rather small for all that access,” he wrote. “Why are we so determined to turn our back on it?” (D. Bloom and M. Veselinovic, CNN , 16 October 2016; adapted and abridged) b) Go through the article again and underline/highlight synonyms in the text for the words and phrases below. 1. to become known that, to be revealed that 5. imitating with a comic effect 2. an advantage, a benefit, a godsend 6. permission to enter, opportunity to enter 3. determination 7. making use of, taking advantage of 4. very strong, irresistible 8. to give up, to abandon c) Having stayed in the UK as an exchange student you have been asked to write an article about Boris Johnson and his views on Europe for the annual school report. Your text should be a showpiece demonstrating the writing skills of students taking part in such programmes. In your article you should: describe what Boris Johnson did analyse the reasons for his views discuss the possible impact of Brexit Write around 250 words . 150 Semester self-checks Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv