PATTEN COLLEGE

FINAL EXAMINATION 2018

ENGLISH LANGUAGE (ORAL EXAMINATIONS)

PART A: READING ALOUD

Read the following story to the examiner. Please attempt to read with fluency - using
emphasis and varying your tone where appropriate
Competition
“Hockey is most definitely a game for men, Rajeev,” stated Jared. “ I know that there are
women’s teams, but women lack the strength, the aggression and the knowledge to play this
game properly,” he added.
I’d better not say too much about it,” replied his friend, Rajeev. “my sister is over there and she
is the captain of her college hockey team.”
Jared was a very skillful hockey player- indeed, he had already had trials to represent the
district team, and that could lead him into a career as a professional hockey player. Jared felt
that when men played hockey it was played to a faster pace and therefore more exciting to play
and to watch. He regarded the women’s version as slow and uninteresting.
Rajeev’s sister had other ideas, though. She knew that men were generally stronger and
quicker, but she also knew that women were equally as competitive.
“Jared. Are you interested in a challenge?” she shouted as she approached the men. “Girls
against boys. However, as you boys are stronger and fitter, you really ought to give us a two-
goal start,” she added.
Jared smiled. He couldn’t resist the challenge. His competitive natured forced him to accept,
and the game was duly arranged for the following weekend.
PART B: CONVERSATION TOPIC
Competition
In the above story, two men discuss the issue of competitiveness. Discuss this theme with your
examiner. Your aim is to develop the conversation using the prompts below.
In your conversation, consider each of the three discussion points. However, you are also free
to raise related points of your own.

 Games you have played and how you felt about playing them
 Positive and negative aspects of competing
 Whether men are indeed more competitive than women