IDIOMAS
VOCABULARY
Rebound effect: efecto rebote
To opt for: optar por
To rule out: descartar
To stand out: sobresalir, destacar
Urban myth: leyenda urbana
To squeeze into: meter a presión,
“meter con calzador”
To stick to sth.: ajustarse a
To work out: resolver, solucionar
EXPRESSIONS
To play tricks on sb.: jugar una
mala pasada, engañar
To be of paramount importance:
ser de suma importancia
To be kind of obsessed: estar
como obsesionado
Handle with care: manejar con
precaución
To beat around the bush: irse por
las ramas, andar con rodeos
unnatural. During the test you will have to
answer a lot of questions, you will be under
52
pressure, but you have to try to avoid
complicated explanations or grammatical
usage you are not sure about and which
will only result in silly mistakes.
This simplicity has to be set aside if you
opt for an advanced speaking level in
which you cannot rule out adding complementary
details that may help you
stand out. But do not abuse set phrases,
connectors, pompous words which, in addition
to creating an “artificial” discourse,
can offer one in which you are not saying
anything at all.
It is an urban myth that there are some
compulsory elements that should always
be included in our speech (or writing),
such as inversions, conditionals, phrasal
verbs or idioms. Please, do stay away
from these wrong beliefs. Do not try to
squeeze such elements into your conversation
just because someone told you
that you have to do so. They are useful
resources, but they must be handled with
care and used only if it is appropriate and
relevant.
Beating around the bush when answering
the questions could only lead to confusion
and you might not answer what the
testers had asked for. All the questions
have a purpose so you need to stick to
them to work out your answer. Try to
avoid answering questions with a previously
rehearsed speech which has little or
nothing to do with the topic.
Speaking is about making sure you are understood.
So why complicate everything?
Prepare for the exam but do not memorize
the answers. Please, be you, be
natural.
MORAL
The idea is to express and not to impress.
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