Unit overview

Learning outcomes

• Reading: short texts, articles and conversations about machines, technology and their historical context in Egypt; identifying key details and understanding idioms.
• Language: reported speech for statements, commands and requests.
• Listening: key information from a technical-support call.
• Writing: an argumentative essay with a clear opinion, supporting reasons and a counter-argument.
• Speaking: talking about machines and their impact, presenting an invented machine, and giving and following instructions.

The unit's five lessons

• Machines in Egypt: Past and Present; Technical Support Call; The Role of Machines; Our Machine-Driven World; For or Against?

How the unit is examined

• Vocabulary is tested through synonym, antonym and definition matching items, so learn each new word with a synonym and a collocation.
• Reading is tested through main-idea, reference and inference questions, so practise summarising each paragraph in one sentence.
• Reported speech usually appears in the Language section, typically through a tense shift or a to + infinitive structure.