Intermediate Level

FCE Preparation Material

Jurassic Park: FCE Preparation Material

Task 1 Summarizing the plot
1 When you finish reading each chapter, write three or four sentences to summarize the action in that chapter. Later you can reread your summaries to remind yourself of the sequence of events. Example

Chapter 1 Bob Morris, a lawyer from The Environmental Protection Agency, tells Alan Grant that he is worried about what John Hammond is doing on his island, Isla Nublar. After Bob has left, Alan and his friend Ellie learn that people on a beach have been attacked by what seems to be a lizard that used to live 200 million years ago. Then an angry John Hammond contacts Alan and Ellie and offers them a lot of money to come to his island.

Tips

A When writing a summary, try not to look back at the chapter. You will usually find that the events that you can remember are the most important ones and these are what you should include in your summary. B Use words and phrases to link your sentences and show the sequence of events, e.g. after, because, first, then, when, while. C When telling a story of a book or a film, we usually use the present simple tense, e.g. he visits, they go, she sees.

Put the titles of the chapters in the correct order.

Isla Nublar The End of the Park

The Attack

Power On

Power Off

The Dinosaur Hunters How to Make a Dinosaur

The Consultants

The Tour of the Park

The Control Room Death in Jurassic Park

Control of the Island

The Battle With the Raptors The Tyrannosaur Again

The Chase Through the Forest

Macmillan Readers

Jurassic Park

This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com. It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010. Published by Macmillan Heinemann ELT. Heinemann is a registered trademark of Pearson Education, used under licence.

Intermediate Level

FCE Preparation Material

Test your partner (or yourself). Choose the title of one chapter at random and, without looking at your notes, say what that chapter is about. Write a short paragraph to describe what has happened before the story begins. Think about the events below. 1 Hammond consults Alan Grant. Why? 2 Hammond consults other experts. Why? 3 Hammond buys super computers and gene sequencers. Why? 4 Hammond prepares the island. How?

Task 2 Describing events

1 Choose three events in the story to describe. Talk about their places in the story, what happens, the atmosphere (if relevant) and how the character(s) are feeling. Say why the events are important. Example

The first really frightening event in the story happens when Nedry steals the dinosaur embryos while the others are touring the park. He turns off the main power to the park so that no one can see him on the security screen, but this means the park is in complete darkness when he drives the jeep quickly through the park to get to the ship where he will put the embyros. It is also raining heavily and in the dark Nedry gets lost. He starts to panic when he hears a terrible sound behind him. It is a huge dinosaur with yellow and black spots. Nedry thinks he can outrun the dinosaur but this type of dinosaur is very dangerous indeed. It is the spitting dinosaur. Nedry feels the wetness on his chest and then the pain starts. It is terrible. He dies on the ground. This is the first death in Jurassic Park and its very scary because we realize how big and powerful the dinosaurs are. It is also frightening because it happens in the dark and in the rain and we can imagine Nedrys fear. This is an important event in the story because his action in shutting off the power means that the dinosaurs can escape from their enclosures and start to hunt as they did millions of years ago.

Macmillan Readers

Jurassic Park

This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com. It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010. Published by Macmillan Heinemann ELT. Heinemann is a registered trademark of Pearson Education, used under licence.

Intermediate Level

FCE Preparation Material

Tips

A Use a range of adjectives to describe the event, e.g. dramatic, exciting, frightening, significant, shocking, surprising etc. B Use adverbs to describe the action, e.g. quietly, rapidly, slowly, unexpectedly etc.

These words feature in important events in the story. Write a sentence for each to explain why. amber egg shells generator jeep river rocket launcher shed ship trees waterfall

Task 3 Describing characters

1 List the characters from the story and answer these questions about them. 1 What is their job title? 2 What do they do? 3 What are they like? 4 Do they change during the story? How? 5 What is the most important thing they do in the story? 6 Do you like them? Why/Why not? Example

Alan Grant is a palaeontologist and he studies ... Ellie Sattler is a paleobotanist and her work involves studying ...

Choose one character from the story that you like and one that you dislike. Give reasons why you like/ dislike them.

Tips

A Briefly introduce the characters. B Give examples to show what the person is like and why you like/dislike him/her. C If you are describing someone you dont like, try to give some reasons why this person might have become the bad person he/she is, or find some examples of good things he/she does. This gives a balanced view.

Macmillan Readers

Jurassic Park

This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com. It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010. Published by Macmillan Heinemann ELT. Heinemann is a registered trademark of Pearson Education, used under licence.

Intermediate Level

FCE Preparation Material

Useful language
Introducing My favourite character in the book is The person I dislike most in the book is Someone that I really dislike is Giving reasons and examples There are several reasons why I dislike John Hammond. Firstly, I think hes too ambitious and selfish and he only cares about what he wants. For example ... Secondly, he puts everyone elses life in danger. This is clear when ... I like Alan a great deal because hes a very strong character and also very courageous. He is more concerned about saving other people than himself. He shows this when ... Balancing Although I can understand his excitement about the park, I still dont like him. People with an obsession like his are really ill and need help. However, I dont think anyone could have helped him. He was too single-minded. I think Alan should have suspected something was wrong earlier, but nevertheless he ...

Use the following adjectives to write sentences about how different people feel at different times in the story. angry astonished bored confused exhausted proud relieved scared worried

Example

Nedry feels scared when he is lost in the dark.

The island itself could be considered a character in the story. Write a short description of the island with as many details as possible. Look at the map at the back of the book and use the following words. buildings clouds enclosures forests isolated moats river waterfall weather

Macmillan Readers

Jurassic Park

This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com. It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010. Published by Macmillan Heinemann ELT. Heinemann is a registered trademark of Pearson Education, used under licence.

Intermediate Level

FCE Preparation Material

Task 4 Discussing themes

1 With a partner or in small groups discuss and then write answers to these questions about different themes that come up in the story. 1 What is the chaos theory? 2 How did Hammond develop dinosaurs? 3 Was it clear from the beginning that the park would fail? 4 Is it always wrong to interfere with nature? 5 Do you think Hammond was only motivated by money? 6 What part did computers play in the events in Jurassic Park? Do you think we depend on computers too much these days? 7 What new things did you learn from the story? 8 The park is becoming a real Jurassic world, says Grant at the end of the story. What does he mean?

Task 5 Giving opinions and recommending

1 When you finish the book, write some sentences about your opinions on the following: 1 the story 2 the beginning/ending 3 the writers style

Useful language
Giving opinions In my opinion I really enjoyed For me, the story was too On one hand I thought the story was good because But on the other hand I got bored in a few places, for example when I think the writer should have started ... /finished I would have preferred a different beginning/ending ... I like the writers style because it is not too confusing and he can describe things very clearly, for example ... I think the writer creates very imaginative scenes such as ...

Do you agree or disagree with these statements? Why? 1 The writer creates a fast-moving story and you never get bored. 2 I sometimes found the scientific explanations a little complicated and confusing. 3 In my opinion, the best thing about the book is that it really makes you think about important things as well as being an exciting story. 4 I thought the whole thing was a bit unrealistic.

Macmillan Readers

Jurassic Park

This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com. It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010. Published by Macmillan Heinemann ELT. Heinemann is a registered trademark of Pearson Education, used under licence.

Intermediate Level

FCE Preparation Material

Would you recommend the book to other people? Finish the sentence which is true for you. Yes, I would because __________________________________________________________________________ . No, I wouldnt because ________________________________________________________________________ .

Useful language
Recommending You should definitely read/not read this book. You would love this book because I cant recommend this book enough. I think you might be disappointed by this book. This book isnt really suitable for people who ...

FCE Writing Exam Tasks

Completing tasks 1 to 5 above will help you prepare for FCE writing exam tasks. Here are some examples of different types of tasks you might have to do on Jurassic Park in the writing exam.

Letters
You may be asked to write a reply to a friends letter or email asking you some questions about the book. Example question This is part of a letter from your English-speaking penfriend. Ive just finished reading Jurassic Park and I cant decide who the worst character is Nedry or Hammond! What do you think? Write and tell me. Dave Write a letter to your penfriend giving your opinion.

Here are some more examples of questions a penfriend might ask you. 1 Who do you think is the most sensible character in Jurassic Park? Write and tell me. 2 There are a lot of science fiction adventure stories and films these days. Why do you think Jurassic Park is still so popular? Write and tell me. 3 The ending of Jurassic Park is very dramatic! Do you think its a good ending? Write and tell me. 4 Help! Im a bit confused about how they developed the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park in the first place and then why it all went wrong. Can you write and explain? Thanks!

Macmillan Readers

Jurassic Park

This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com. It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010. Published by Macmillan Heinemann ELT. Heinemann is a registered trademark of Pearson Education, used under licence.

Intermediate Level

FCE Preparation Material

Tip

In a letter or email to a friend, you can use colloquial expressions. Also make sure you start and end the letter or email appropriately.

Essays
You may be asked to write an essay for your teacher about something you have discussed in class. Example question Your English teacher has given you this question for homework. Which part of Jurassic Park do you think is most exciting and why? Write your essay. Here are some more examples of essay questions. 1 What future do you imagine for the people who survived the experience in Jurassic Park? 2 Do you think we should have any sympathy for John Hammond? Why/Why not? 3 Explain why things go wrong in Jurassic Park. 4 How important is technology in the story of Jurassic Park? 5 Why do you think John Hammond is so obsessed with Jurassic Park? 6 Do you think there could ever be a real Jurassic Park?

Tip

In an essay you should write an introduction, a main paragraph or two and a conclusion.

Articles
You may be asked to write an article for a magazine/competition etc. Example question We are looking for articles about books in which people do not learn from their mistakes. The best articles will be published next month. Write an article about whether or not John Hammond learns from his mistakes in Jurassic Park. Here are some more examples of articles. 1 We are looking for articles about an exciting, fast-moving adventure story you have read recently. Write an article about Jurassic Park.

Macmillan Readers

Jurassic Park

This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com. It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010. Published by Macmillan Heinemann ELT. Heinemann is a registered trademark of Pearson Education, used under licence.

Intermediate Level

FCE Preparation Material

2 We are looking for articles about books that have the theme of a race against time. Write an article about this theme in Jurassic Park. 3 We are looking for articles about books in which children play an important part. Write an article about why the children are important in the story of Jurassic Park. 4 We are looking for articles about books in which a prediction comes true. Write an article about how a prediction comes true in Jurassic Park.

Tip

Organize your article into different parts, including an introduction, a main paragraph or two and a conclusion, and use a semi-formal/formal style.

Reviews
You may be asked to write a review of the book for a magazine/website etc. Example question Have you read a book recently that you really enjoyed? Write a review of the book for the school magazine and say why you enjoyed it and why you would recommend it to other readers. Write a review of Jurassic Park for the magazine.

Here is another example of a review. 1 Write a review for our science fiction website saying what the most interesting parts of the book Jurassic Park are for people interested in science fiction.

Tip

Give a general view of the book including a short summary of the plot, what is interesting about it and a recommendation.

Reports
You may be asked to write a report for a club or teacher. Example question You belong to a book club. Write a report for the book club about Jurassic Park and say what the good and bad points of the book are and whether you would recommend it for other book clubs to read and discuss.

Macmillan Readers

Jurassic Park

This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com. It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010. Published by Macmillan Heinemann ELT. Heinemann is a registered trademark of Pearson Education, used under licence.

Intermediate Level

FCE Preparation Material

Here is another example of a report. 1 Your teacher is planning to buy a set of books for one of his/her classes to read and discuss. Write a report about Jurassic Park saying why you think he/she should or shouldnt buy a set of these books.

Tip

Divide your answer into different paragraphs with headings story/characters/themes/ recommendation.

And finally
Whether you are writing a letter, email, essay, article, review or report, it is important to remember that you should: always answer the question you are asked dont memorize an answer you have written before. always think about the person who is going to read your answer and decide if your language should be formal, semi-formal or informal. always organize your answer clearly into paragraphs and join sentences with linking devices. always use a range of vocabulary. always check your work for mistakes when you have finished. try to keep to the word limit of 120180 words.

Macmillan Readers

Jurassic Park

This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com. It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010. Published by Macmillan Heinemann ELT. Heinemann is a registered trademark of Pearson Education, used under licence.