🔁 1. Ôn tập – 10 phút
🔁 Ôn thẻ từ vựng đến hạn
🧠 Nhớ lại buổi trước (không xem tài liệu)
- Buổi 90: ưu tiên giữa khóa nào đã cải thiện?
- Part 3 (buổi 66): phân biệt đồng ý một phần thế nào?
- “marginally cheaper” và “considerably cheaper” khác nhau thế nào?
Trả lời to hoặc viết ra giấy, rồi mới mở lại buổi trước để kiểm tra.
🎧 2. Đầu vào – 25 phút
So sánh có mức độ
| Mức chênh lệch | Cụm | Ví dụ |
|---|---|---|
| Rất lớn | by far / considerably / significantly + so sánh hơn | by far the cheapest, considerably more efficient |
| Vừa | noticeably / rather | noticeably quieter |
| Rất nhỏ | marginally / slightly / a little | marginally more expensive |
| Gần bằng | not quite as… as / almost as… as | not quite as efficient as |
| Kém xa | nowhere near as… as / not nearly as | nowhere near as reliable as |
🎧 Bài nghe
Two engineering students, Mai and Ollie, discuss options for a solar energy project at a primary school with their tutor (giả định)
Nghe tối đa 2 lần trước khi xem lời thoại.
📄 Xem lời thoại (sau khi làm bài)
- Tutor
- So, you've looked at three options for the school's roof. Talk me through them.
- Ollie
- Option A is the standard panels the school was originally quoted for. Option B is a newer type of panel that's marginally more efficient, and Option C is the standard panels plus battery storage.
- Tutor
- And the costs?
- Mai
- A is by far the cheapest to install. B is only slightly more expensive – about five per cent more – but because it produces more electricity from the same roof space, it would pay back its cost at almost the same rate. C is considerably more expensive, because the batteries roughly double the upfront cost.
- Tutor
- What does the school actually need?
- Ollie
- That's the interesting part. The school uses most of its electricity during the day, which is exactly when the panels produce power. So batteries are nowhere near as useful for them as they would be for a household that uses more electricity in the evening.
- Mai
- Although I think we shouldn't dismiss storage completely. The school is used for community classes two evenings a week, and in the holidays there's very little demand, so a lot of power would go back to the grid.
- Ollie
- True, but the community classes are small – a couple of rooms with the lights on. It's not quite as significant as it sounds.
- Tutor
- What about the roof itself?
- Mai
- That's the main constraint. Part of the roof faces north and is partly shaded by trees, so we can only use about sixty per cent of it. That's why the more efficient panels in Option B are attractive – they make better use of limited space.
- Tutor
- And maintenance?
- Ollie
- Panels need very little – mostly cleaning once or twice a year. The batteries would need replacing after about ten years, which is another cost to consider.
- Tutor
- So what's your recommendation?
- Mai
- On balance, we'd go for Option B. It costs only a little more than A, but it gets more out of the roof, and storage just isn't justified by the school's pattern of use at the moment.
- Ollie
- Agreed – and we'd suggest the system is designed so that batteries could be added later if evening use increases.
- Tutor
- Good. Make sure the report explains the shading problem clearly, because that's what will convince the governors.
Giọng đọc là giọng máy của trình duyệt; giọng và tốc độ khác nhau tùy thiết bị. Bài thi thật dùng giọng người với nhiều giọng địa phương.
✅ Câu 1–6: chọn A, B hoặc C
1. How does Option B compare with Option A in cost?
2. Why does Option C cost considerably more?
3. Why does Ollie think batteries are less useful for the school?
4. What is Mai's point about evening classes?
5. What is the main constraint on the project?
6. What does the tutor say will convince the governors?
Câu 7–10: Complete the notes. ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER
- 7. Usable roof area: about % (north-facing and shaded parts excluded)
- 8. Panel maintenance: mainly once or twice a year
- 9. Batteries need replacing after about years
- 10. Recommended option: , designed so batteries can be added later
🧩 3. Ngôn ngữ trọng tâm – 10 phút: so sánh có mức độ
Chọn trạng từ / cấu trúc phù hợp
- Option A is far the cheapest to install.
- Option B is only more expensive – about five per cent.
- Batteries are near as useful for a school as for a household.
- The evening demand is not as significant as it sounds.
👉 Trong Task 1, những cụm này giúp so sánh chính xác hơn số liệu trần: slightly higher than (52 vs 50) khác hẳn considerably higher than (80 vs 50).
🎧 4. Thực hành – 20 phút
- Nghe lại, mở lời thoại: gạch 8 cụm so sánh có mức độ và xếp theo mức chênh lệch (7 phút).
- Nói 1 phút so sánh hai phương án đi làm của bạn (xe máy/xe buýt) bằng 4 mức so sánh khác nhau (6 phút).
- Sổ cụm từ band 7: talk me through, pay back its cost, get more out of, on balance (7 phút).
💼 Dùng ngay – kế hoạch tiết kiệm năng lượng văn phòng (thêm 5–10 phút)
📝 Office energy-saving plan (60–90 từ)
Write a short plan with three actions to reduce energy use in an office, in order of priority. For each, compare it with an alternative using a nuanced comparison (by far, slightly, nowhere near as…).
👀 Xem bài mẫu tham khảo (sau khi đã viết xong)
Bài mẫu tham khảo do khóa học viết; văn phòng và chi tiết giả định.
Office energy-saving plan – 2nd floor
1. Set air-conditioning to 26°C and switch it off automatically at 6 p.m. This is by far the cheapest action with the largest likely impact. 2. Replace old fluorescent tubes with LED lighting in meeting rooms. Slightly more expensive at first, but LEDs last considerably longer. 3. Encourage staff to shut down computers at night. Useful, though nowhere near as significant as the first two actions.
📚 Từ vựng của buổi
- solar panel – tấm pin mặt trời
The school plans to install solar panels.
- install – lắp đặt
Installation will take two days.
- upfront cost – chi phí ban đầu
Batteries double the upfront cost.
- pay back – hoàn vốn
The system will pay back its cost in a few years.
- battery storage – lưu trữ bằng pin
Battery storage is useful in the evening.
- output – sản lượng (điện)
Output falls on cloudy days.
- efficiency – hiệu suất
Newer panels have higher efficiency.
- grid – lưới điện
Extra power goes back to the grid.
- maintenance – bảo trì
Panels need very little maintenance.
- feasibility – tính khả thi
We carried out a feasibility study.
✅ 5. Tự kiểm tra – 10 phút
✅ Tự kiểm tra
Nghe lại bản ghi của mình và tích những điểm bạn đã làm được. Ô tích chỉ lưu trên máy này.