1

READING

Your
adventure
startswhere?
An increasing number of students are thinking of going
overseas to study for a degree. This week we focus on
five English-speaking countries, examining what each
has to offer and why you might choose to study there.

With thousands of institutions and courses to choose centres, New Zealand is a country where you can enjoy
from, how do you decide where to study as an both the great outdoors and the conveniences and
international student? Do you dream of heading for the dynamism of modern city life. Low living costs and a high
land of Uncle Sam or would you feel more at home in standard of living also make life here very appealing. New
Shakespeare’s country? Perhaps the Australian outback Zealand’s highly respected educational programmes are
will give you the space you need to work out the problems based on the British system. A large part of a degree
of the world. Whichever you choose, the adventure begins programme is practical; this gives graduates both the
right here! knowledge and the skills they need when entering
STUDY IN AUSTRALIA the workplace.
Free-spirited Australia has been open to migration for STUDY IN THE USA
many years and is today one of the world’s top three The population of the USA is made up of people from
destinations for international students. Australia’s every continent, joined together by a shared language and
renowned cultural diversity, its high level of public safety a core set of values. Of these values, liberty and freedom
and the vibrant atmosphere of its cities all help to make it are probably the most important, combined with
easy for overseas visitors to feel at home. Academically individual responsibility. American students are therefore
speaking, most of the national, publicly-funded expected to think independently and have responsibility
universities are of similarly high standard. Moreover, for their own studies; classes are often informal and
Australian institutions have a particularly strong students are encouraged to express their opinion. With 50
reputation for research into the environment and states all offering a huge range of different types of
sport science. institutions – from two-year community college courses to
STUDY IN THE UK four-year undergraduate programmes – deciding where to
Many students are attracted to Britain by its long history study in the USA may appear confusing, so it is important
of literature, from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Bridget to do some research first.
Jones and Harry Potter. Look beyond this, and you’ll find a STUDY IN CANADA
university system with one of the best reputations in the Surveys conducted by the United Nations have repeatedly
world. Universities in the UK have a record of achievement found Canada to be among the top ten places in the world
in business, law, the sciences, philosophy, linguistics and to live in. In addition, Canada’s largest cities, Vancouver,
many other fields. Some UK institutions offer a foundation Toronto and Montreal, have been recognised as world-class
course (usually three months or one year in length) to cities in which to live and work, for their cleanliness and
prepare international students before they go on to do a safety and for their cultural activities and attractive
full undergraduate or post-graduate degree; applying for lifestyles. A Canadian degree, diploma or certificate is well
one of these courses normally involves taking the regarded in business, government and academic circles
IELTS exam. around the globe. Canada has two official languages –
STUDY IN NEW ZEALAND English and French. Studying and living in Canada could
With its vast and beautiful open spaces and friendly city be your opportunity to learn both!

12 UNIT 1 Studying Overseas

 1
READING

4 Short-answer questions
for this task – exam strategy 
Short-answer questions ask you to write one, two or Scan the headings in the passage to help you find the
three words for each question. If your answer is too relevant part of the text. Then scan that section of
long or uses different words to those in the passage, it the passage for possible answers (or to confirm your
will be marked as incorrect. predicted answer).
For each question: Check that your answer fits the maximum word
First, decide what kind of information you need count. Remember to use words taken directly from
to answer the question. Is it a where, when, what,
the passage. Don’t change the form of the words or
which or who question? Then look for keywords
use different words.
(most important words) in the question, for example,
personal names, places and dates.

EXAM Questions 1–5

Practice
Answer the following questions. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

1 What type of university preparation course is available in the UK? .........................

2 On which education system are New Zealand programmes founded? .........................
3 Which two values are extremely important to Americans? .........................
4 Which USA educational programmes are two years in length? .........................
5 Who concluded that Canada is one of the best countries in the world to live in? .........................

5 Classification
for this task – exam strategy 
In classification tasks, you will see a list of categories Skim the passage to decide which section of the
and a number of statements. You need to match the passage each category (in this case each country)
statements with the correct categories according to refers to.
the passage. The statements will be paraphrased; they Read the first statement and scan the sections of the
will have the same meaning as the information in the passage you identified to find an idea that has the
text, but they may be worded differently. Sometimes the same meaning. Note the letters that correspond to
number of categories is the same as the number of that country.
statements, but not always.
Repeat the process for the rest of the statements.

EXAM Questions 6–10

Practice
Which countries do the following statements refer to? Choose your answers from the box and write the correct
letters next to questions 6–10.

AU Australia
Express Tip CA Canada
NZ New Zealand
The categories
will be listed in UK United Kingdom
a logical order, US United States
for example,
alphabetically. Be
careful because 6 There is an enormous choice of colleges and universities to choose from. .........................
the categories 7 Some universities are famous for courses in environmental studies. .........................
may not match
8 It is well-known for producing many famous authors. .........................
the order in which
they appear in 9 Students should be able to think for themselves. .........................
the text. 10 It is not a very expensive place to live in. .........................

13
 1
READING
6 True/false/not given
for this task – exam strategy 
True/False/Not Given questions ask you to read Read the information in that section of the passage
statements and compare them to the information given carefully. If the idea expressed in the passage is the
in the passage. You need to decide if the statement is same as the statement, answer ‘True’. If the passage
true or false according to the passage. If the statement disagrees with the statement, answer ‘False’. If the
relates to information given in the passage, but the passage contains information relating to the
passage doesn’t actually agree or disagree with the statement, but doesn’t actually agree or disagree
statement, you need to select ‘Not Given’. with it, answer ‘Not Given’.
Read the first statement. Look for keywords that can Repeat the process for the rest of the statements.
help you decide which part of the passage to focus
on. Then skim the passage to find the relevant section.

EXAM Questions 11–15

Practice
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Next to questions 11–15 write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

11 Australia is a dangerous country. .................

12 Most state universities in Australia are of comparable quality. .................
13 A degree from a UK university is highly regarded. .................
14 The British education system has a large practical element. .................
15 Canada has the top three universities in the world. .................

14 UNIT 1 Studying Overseas