English language

Demo version of the Unified State Exam 2019 in English

We bring to your attention an analysis of the demo version of the Unified State Exam 2019 in English.
This material contains explanations and a detailed solution algorithm, as well as recommendations for the use of reference books and manuals that may be needed when preparing for the Unified State Exam.

Official demo versions of the Unified State Exam 2019 in English can be downloaded from the FIPI website:

English language (written and oral parts) (download PDF, 7.6 Mb)

English (listening) (download PDF, 24.7 Mb)

What's new in 2019?

There are no changes in the structure and content of the CMM.
In task 40 of the “Writing” section, the wording and assessment criteria have become clearer. Now the graduate will have to choose one of two topics to write a detailed text-reasoning and express his point of view.

Follow the broadcasts of our webinars and YouTube channel: starting in September we will start talking about preparing for the Unified State Exam.

The textbook is intended for training graduates high school and applicants for the unified state exam in English. It contains 10 training options examination papers compiled in full accordance with the requirements of the Unified State Examination. Each option includes tasks of different types and levels of complexity for all sections of the English language course, which allows you to quickly master the skills and abilities necessary to successfully pass the final certification. At the end of the book there are texts for listening, keys to all practical tasks and possible answers to task 39 (personal writing), criteria and assessment schemes for completing tasks in the “Writing” section and the oral part.

Answers and solution – Demo version of the Unified State Exam 2018 ENGLISH LANGUAGE project

Explanations: Galyautdinova Alsou Aidarovna

1. Listening.

A. 2(Christmas day is nothing special)
Speaker A
Holiday or no holiday, if I have a business deal going on, I work. At Christmas, for example, I am often quite alone because I’ve got no family or kids but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying myself. Sometimes, I go to a party with some of my single friends but even then, we usually reserve that for the New Year celebration. So you see, this holiday that seems to be so important for so many people, is really just another day for me.

B.3(Adults could still enjoy some magic getting presents)
Speaker B
The night before Christmas I take a train to the suburbs to visit my parents. It takes an hour to get there by car but the traffic on Christmas Eve is so bad that it takes hours to drive there. That's why I take the train. On the morning of the 25th we usually have a leisurely breakfast and open the presents Santa has left for us. Of course, I am all grown up now but believing in Santa is still kind of fun in our family. We like finding small packages in our stockings.

C.5(The bigger family, the bigger fun.)
Speaker C
There is really no more fun for me than to spend my Christmas holidays with my big family. My six brothers and sisters all sleep in one room the night before Christmas and before bed my dad reads us Christmas poems. Then he leaves, and we make up a strategy to wake up our parents the next morning. We try to be creative because we want them to get up early to open our presents, and they like us to surprise them with a special wake up call.

D.4(Gifts from young children bring joy.)
Speaker D
You know, Christmas is such a lovely family holiday. My children are all gone from home now with families of their own, but on Christmas morning they come to my house for breakfast. I’ve got 26 grandchildren opening presents around my tree. To say the least, my heart is always full on this day because not only do they open the presents I’ve prepared, but they also bring their presents for me. I love their handmade things – they are filled with love.

E.6(Christmas away from family can be enjoyable.)
Speaker E
I am a student and rather far away from home. Unfortunately, Christmas break is not long enough for me to travel to see my family, so I stay at the dormitory. Our college is very nice because it organizes a Christmas party for everyone who finds themselves alone on this day. The college makes a traditional Christmas meal and puts a big tree in the middle of the dining hall. We all bring a present and put it under the tree for someone else to open.

F.1(Exotic location makes Christmas memorable.)
Speaker F
Our family always takes a holiday during Christmas break. We usually go abroad and celebrate this day in a hotel. One time we were in Africa, so on Christmas Eve we went to the beach and had a barbeque. My parents put our presents under the palm tree outside our hotel room, and that’s where we found them the next morning. I remember laughing that Santa went swimming after delivering our presents that year. I won't forget that holiday.

2. Listening.

1132232
Emily: Hello Sam! How are you? How was your first day of classes?
Sam: Hello Emily! I am well. Classes this semester seem interesting, but I am sure they will be a lot of work, as always.
Emily: Yeah, mine look that way, too. My history teacher told us that we will have to write four research papers by December and will have five big tests. It’s a good thing, I like history.
Sam: No kidding, I think my biology class will be the same way. Our teacher is very demanding. But with all the summer rest we’ve had, we should have enough energy, right?
Emily: Yes, by the way, Sam, how was your summer? Did you do anything special?
Sam: It was great. I spent two months at my grandparents’ cottage on a lake. My grandfather is into fishing, so every day we went out on a boat with him. The weather was hot, so I was able to sunbathe and swim a lot. My friend was visiting his grandparents in the cottage next door, so we spent some time running around the countryside, climbing trees and picking wild berries.
Emily: Sounds like a nice relaxing summertime. I wish I had done the same. I envy you for having spent it outdoors because my summer wasn’t nearly as active as yours.
Sam: Really? Why not? What did you do this summer?
Emily: I spent June on the couch in my flat, reading books and watching some boring TV shows. All my friends were gone by then, so I didn’t even have anyone to go roller skating or bike riding with. Then in July I went to the seaside with my family. We visited Greece but the sea was stormy most of the time, so we mostly did some sightseeing and shopping. We swam only two times! The most exciting part of the trip was visiting the ruins of Athens.
Sam: Wow, did you see the famous Parthenon? Is it as beautiful as they told us in history class?
Emily: Yes, it is very graceful and the feeling of visiting such an ancient place is amazing, so I took a lot of pictures.
Sam: I would love to see them when you get the chance. Have you got them on your phone?
Emily: No, I took them with my camera, so you can see them on my computer. I am also making a photo album of my trip to Greece, so when I am finished, why don’t you come over and look at it?
Sam: I'd really like that, thanks. Let me know when it would be a good time to do that.
Emily: I will. I have to run now, time to get some homework done. Bye, Sam!
Sam: Bye, Emily!

3.2
Presenter: Kim, your last success as a hockey wife in the sitcom “Married to an Ice Rink” is unbelievable. You are considered the sitcom actress of the year. How do you feel about that?
Kim: Well, it is great, of course, but I’ve never really been big on all that attention. I simply try to do my job well, and I guess it pays off, but all the noise around my success is not really my cup of tea.

4.1
Presenter: What do you mean? Do you not like to be seen as glamorous?
Kim: Not really. It’s funny but I am first a mother and a wife and then an actress. You know, I see this as a job and not as a life-style. It is what I am good at, and it brings money, good money, of course, but this job doesn’t own me.

5.1
Presenter: I’ve heard that you have an unusual outlook on life for a celebrity. Tell us a bit more about your role as a family woman.
Kim: It’s ironic, really, but in this last sitcom I play a hockey player’s wife, but at the same time that’s who I am in real life as well. My husband is a well-known hockey player, and we have three kids. All the kids are in school now, but they are still my main priority in life. We do a lot together.

6.3
Presenter: That's interesting. Do you think that is why your role in “Married to an Ice Rink” came so naturally to you?
Kim: Maybe. Of course, my heroine is quite different from me in terms of character and temperament, but the day to day routines of juggling my husband’s schedule and mine were very familiar to me. We are both very active, public, busy people, so we work extra hard not to lose our close connection to each other.

7.2
Presenter: You said your heroine is different from you, could you tell us how so?
Kim: Sure, Lisa, my heroine, is selfish and ambitious and I prefer to put the needs of others first. Also, she is very athletic, a lot more than me. I work out twice or three times a week and Lisa goes to the gym daily. She also has a million friends whereas I have a couple of close friends and spend time with family more. Those are the main differences, I believe.

8.2
Presenter: It must’ve been challenging to play such a different person but you did an excellent job. Tell us, what are your plans for the future? Will this sitcom have another season?
Kim: Yes, and I will be starring again as Lisa, but this will be our last season. My contract is for two years. I am looking into some TV journalism, doing some talk shows or hosting a show of my own. I have a university degree in media, so this is something I’ve been dreaming of since I finished studying. My acting career picked up from the time I graduated, so I haven’t had time to slow down and do something different. So, I believe next year I will try something new.

9.3
Presenter: How exciting! What kind of people would you want to invite to your shows?
Kim: I am hoping to hear from people who do something to change the world. I’ve been reading about men and women who volunteer in difficult areas of our globe, where there is fighting, hunger, destitution. I would love to listen to their stories and have the audience get acquainted with these modern day heroes.

10. 7348621
A.7
As some of these languages are nearly extinct, the City University of New York has begun a project called the Endangered Language Alliance. It aims to preserve rare languages like Bukhari, Vhlaski, and Ormuri.
B.3
But New York City can reveal new treasures even to its veterans. Beyond the city where New-Yorkers work, eat, play and commute every day lies a hidden New York: mysterious, forgotten, abandoned or just overlooked. There are places about which you’re not likely to read in any guidebook.
C.4
But the spire of the Chrysler Building was constructed in secret inside the tower. Just one week after the Bank of Manhattan was finished, it was put in place, making it 318 meterstall and beating the Bank. It wouldn’t keep this title for long: one year later the Empire State Building was erected.

D.8
the skyscraper was meant to be named Fuller Building. But locals soon started calling it “Flatiron” because of its unusual shape. The name stuck and soon became official.
E.6
They do aerial searches by helicopter, of course, and bring it to the city during the night when there isn’t much traffic on the streets. After the tree is taken down for the year, it continues to be useful.
F.2
When you multiply that by more than eight million people in less than 500 square miles, you get the idea: everyone goes everywhere as fast as it is humanly possible. Whatever you do, don’t stop in the middle of the sidewalk or you’ll make everyone around you incredibly angry.
G.1
Buses are useful to travel around Manhattan, and the subway is the best means of transport to the other parts of the city. At some stage you’ll definitely use a yellow taxi. Try to get one on an avenue that’s going in the same direction you are – you’ll save time and money.

11. 253671
A.2
The narrowest section is located from the Admiralty to the Moika River, showing the original width of the avenue.
B.5
After the construction of the Admiralty in 1704 and the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in 1710, it was decided to build a road connecting these two important structures with each other and with the Novgorod Path, which was used by Russian merchants.
C.3
The construction began on both sides at the same time, the roads were laid through the wood, and in the 1760s they were connected into one road, which was not as straight as it was planned but with a turn at the Vosstaniya Square. Nevsky Prospect got its name only in 1783.
D.6
The road was paved with cobble stones, and a few rows of trees were planted along the street.
E.7
By the early 20th century Nevsky Prospect had become the financial center of Russia as the 40 largest banks of Russia, Europe and America had their offices there.
F.1
There are museums, theaters, exhibition halls, cinemas, restaurants, cafés, shops and hotels there or nearby the avenue.

12.2
It is predicted that driverless vehicles will be commercially available at a high cost within 7 years, but it may take another 8 years for prices to drop enough to spur mass consumption.

13.1
Today, the discussions focus primarily on the shifting of accident liability to manufacturers and all the goodness that comes along with reducing accidents

14.1
The concept of a “driver” will be replaced with that of an “operator”, who simply programs the vehicle’s GPS to arrive at the desired destination

15.3
Each passenger will have a personal video display informing about a current location

16.3
Vehicle owners will no longer buy collision insurance since manufacturers will be solely responsible for damage.

17.4
The social and cultural impact of driverless cars could cause far more upheaval than any of us could imagine.

18.1
Obviously, the picture being painted is the one that assumes total adoption, which is far from realistic.

19 . meaning -noun

20 . formed –verb

21 .was considered- to be+verb in second form

22 . located-verb

23 . was designed- to be+verb in second form

24 . won- irregular verb(win-won)

25 .their (they-their- pronoun of appurtenance)

26 . beautiful-adjective

27 . specialize –verb

28 . Construction-noun

29. arguments- noun in plural

30 . peaceful –adjective
31 . visitors- noun in plural
32 . 3. Long time
33 . 4. Struggling with – struggling with
34 . 2. After just
35 . 1. Give up
36 . 4. Although
37 . 2. Join them
38 . 4. By change

English is the most popular of the languages. Today, without knowledge of a foreign language, it is difficult to achieve career heights in almost any profession, so a significant number of humanitarian universities require them to present an appropriate certificate. The English exam is chosen by students who plan to devote their lives to linguistics, teaching, technical and literary translation, diplomacy and international relations.

IN recent years exam in foreign languages is becoming more and more difficult for graduates - now they are required not only to know the basic rules and language norms, but also significant speaking skills, because the oral part was added to the Unified State Examination. For successful completion the exam will require months of persistent and systematic independent work, and maybe even the help of a tutor. Another important point is awareness of possible innovations. Let's figure out how this exam will go in 2018!

Demo version of the Unified State Exam-2018

Unified State Examination dates in English

The approved schedule for the all-Russian examination will be published in January 2018. But today you can find out the approximate periods conducting the Unified State Exam, designated by Rosobrnadzor:

from the second half of March to mid-April 2018 years will pass early examination. The starting date is stated to be March 22. Let us remind you that not all schoolchildren can take the Unified State Exam early. These graduates include those who graduated from school earlier than the 2017/2018 academic year, unsuccessful students from previous years without a certificate, as well as evening school students. Those who decided not to enroll in a university, but to go to college, applicants to foreign universities, children going to live abroad, or those who came to study in Russia from abroad can also take the test ahead of schedule. An exception is made for children leaving for sports, cultural or scientific competitions and competitions, as well as for schoolchildren who are prescribed medical or rehabilitation procedures during the main testing;
With last days May and until the beginning of June 2018, the main period of the Unified State Exam. Most likely, the first exams will begin on May 28, 2018;
The start of the additional period of the Unified State Exam is announced on September 4, 2018. Additional examination will take place during the first half of September.

How did past graduates pass English?

The popularity of the English language among future students of Russian universities is confirmed by official statistics - about 9% of all graduates (which is about 64.5 thousand schoolchildren in 2017) choose the Unified State Exam in this foreign language. In 2017, the proportion of graduates who were unable to score even the required minimum of 22 points decreased significantly.

The percentage of such failing eleventh graders in recent years has fluctuated between 1.8-3.3%, which looks very optimistic in comparison with other exams. Average score demonstrated Russian schoolchildren when passing English, it is equal to 64.8-65.1 points, which is approximately equal to the “four” mark. This is significantly higher than the results of other Unified State Examinations show.

According to statistics, English is one of the easiest exams

Innovations in the Unified State Examination in English

Specialists from FIPI did not make any significant changes to the 2018 materials. The only innovation is that in English KIMs, the criteria-based approaches to assessing assignments numbered 39-40 have been clarified.

Contents of the English language ticket

The main purpose of the all-Russian examination in English is to check the level of mastery of a foreign language. The primary goal of the commission is to determine how free the student feels in various types of language activities, which include listening, reading, writing and speaking. High school students will have to show their skills in mastering lexical units, morphological forms and syntactic structures. The exam card itself is divided into two parts:

written - within 180 minutes, students will have to solve 40 tasks. This part of the exam requires you to pass a listening test (worth 20 points). primary points, which is 20% of all points for the exam), demonstrate reading skills (another 20 primary points), convince the commission of knowledge of grammar and vocabulary (20 primary points), and also show your level of written language (20 primary points);
oral - within 15 minutes, students will have to solve 4 more tasks. They will have to answer questions and describe the pictures. This part is worth another 20 raw points (or 20% of the total exam points).

In total, graduates will have to cope with 44 tasks of basic, advanced and high levels of complexity, which in total give 100 points.

Written part of KIMs

Structurally, KIMs in English are presented in several main sections:

Listening assessment, aimed at identifying how well the student understands the text being listened to. This task is allotted 30 minutes of exam time, during which the student must complete the following tasks:
- 1 – identifying the correspondence of statements and statements made in the recording. Students are asked to evaluate 6 statements, comparing them with 7 proposed answer statements, one of which is incorrect. The student is given 20 seconds to read the answer statements, then the audio recording will be played 2 times. After this, the student must mark the correct answers on the exam form;
- 2 – assessment of the correctness of judgments, which must be made after listening to an audio recording in dialogue form. The student is required to enter only the words “true”, “false” or “not stated”;
- from 3 to 9 – an audio task in the form of a short interview, after listening to which the student will need to choose the correct answer from the options presented on the form. Most often, the task is presented in the form of a question that needs to be answered, or an unfinished sentence that needs to be supplemented with the correct words.
Reading aimed at checking the understanding of structural and semantic relationships in the proposed text. The student will receive 30 minutes, during which he must complete the following tasks:
- 10 – familiarization with seven short texts and identifying the correspondence of the information presented with 8 headings, among which one option will be incorrect;
- 11 – working with text that has missing parts. There will be 6 such gaps in total. They need to be filled in by choosing words from the seven proposed options;
- from 12 to 18 – familiarization with an artistic or journalistic fragment, to which interrogative sentences and statements with missing words are attached. You will need to choose the correct answer or complete the phrase.
Grammar and vocabulary - this part of the Unified State Exam will check how well the student operates with these language skills. This part of the ticket is considered the most difficult, because this is where students lose the most points. You will be given 40 minutes to work with this part of the ticket, during which you will have to solve the following tasks:
- from 19 to 25 – familiarization with several fragments of text in which words or phrases will be missing. The blanks will need to be filled in based on the answers, which must first be converted;
- from 26 to 31 – exercises testing word formation skills. The student is asked to read the text with missing pieces to determine which parts of speech are missing. To write down the correct answer, the missing word will need to be transformed (for example, turning a noun into an adjective);
- from 32 to 38 – vocabulary exercises that involve working with text fragments in which words are missing. Options for the correct answers are offered in the KIM form, so you just have to make the right choice.
Writing – This part of the ticket will test your ability to produce different types of written text. You are given 80 minutes to complete the tasks, during which you need to complete the following exercises:
- 39 – the student will need to write a letter of a personal nature, keeping it to 100-140 words (it is proposed to complete the task in 20 minutes);
- 40 – writing an essay (200-250 words). Focus on the plan and topic proposed in the KIMs. In this task you will need to write a short introduction to the problem, express your opinion on this issue, support it with argumentation and draw a conclusion. You should allow approximately 60 minutes to complete this task.

This Unified State Examination will require not only knowledge of the rules, but also language skills

Oral part of the exam

In this part of the exam, the commission will evaluate the student’s speech skills. A separate day will be allocated for this test. Each student will receive 15 minutes to complete the following types of tasks:

Reading aloud a short text. For 1.5 minutes, the student has the opportunity to read the text to himself and then speak it out loud;
Formulation of five questions based on a fragment of text. Most often this is an advertising message. The student will have 1.5 minutes to read the text, and then another 20 seconds to voice each question;
Description of the photo. Students are given a choice of five photos, among which they need to take one and describe it according to the plan proposed in KIMs. 1.5 minutes will be allotted for preparation, and then within 2 minutes you will need to express in your own words what you see in the picture;
Comparison of two photographs. The student will have to identify similarities and differences between two pictures in 1.5 minutes, and then tell them to the commission in 2 minutes.

Examination procedure

The examination is regulated by strict standards. Firstly, in Unified State Exam time It will not be possible to use smartphones, video and audio equipment, smart watches and reference materials. Secondly, you should not look at someone else’s answer sheet, talk to other exam participants, or leave the classroom without an observer - this will be a reason for the cancellation of your work. Remember that in 2018, 100% of exam classrooms will be equipped with online surveillance systems.

Each classroom allocated for the written part of the examination will be equipped technical means to play audio recordings while listening. Classrooms for conducting the oral part of the Unified State Exam will be equipped with computers with headsets, microphones and appropriate software for recording answers.

How do exam scores translate into grades for a certificate?

Points for work affect the certificate and are easily transferred to the usual school system:

0-21 points correspond to the “two” level;
22-58 points indicate satisfactory preparation and are equal to a “three”;
59-83 points allow you to get a “B”;
84 points and above tell us that the student knows the subject “excellent”.

The minimum score that you need to score to receive a certificate is 22. However, it is worth remembering that to enter a “mediocre” university you need to score at least 45 points, and in this case we are not talking about budget places. Educational institutions capitals usually accept schoolchildren on a budget who have managed to score 86 points or higher in English.

Preparation for the Unified State Exam in English

To pass the English language test, you will have to spend a lot of time preparing. Try to wisely distribute the time remaining before the exam to repeat school course and work on demo versions of CMMs. Their solution will help you understand the structure of the exam - you must agree that if you see a ticket for the Unified State Exam for the first time, you will probably get nervous. And this, in turn, will lead to a lot of small annoying mistakes. Official CMMs can be downloaded on our website by simply using the link at the beginning of the article.

When preparing for the Unified State Exam, not only textbooks, but also audiobooks will help you!

Don’t forget about preparing for listening, because not every teacher at school devotes enough time in class to teach students to perceive foreign speech by ear. Audio books, songs by your favorite artists, films or television series in English will come to your aid. Watch at least a couple of episodes of an interesting TV series or movie a day, and listen to a book on the way to school. After a few months of such training, you will be able to distinguish words and learn to understand the meaning of the text by ear.

A frequent problem is also the inability to speak - if in vocabulary, grammar and writing the majority of children who have chosen a foreign language for the Unified State Exam demonstrate good results, then oral part causes certain difficulties. You can practice this skill in a fairly simple way - constantly playing small dialogues with everyday situations in your head, or describing objects, people and buildings that you see while going to school or shopping at the supermarket.

Writing an essay also requires special preparation. Hone your mini-essay writing skills using previous years' papers. Each new essay will help you better formulate your thoughts and present arguments in favor of your point of view. When writing an essay, keep these tips in mind:

do not choose the first topic that comes to you - it is better to think about which one will be closer to you and will not require significant effort for argumentation. Part of the points in this task are awarded specifically for understanding the subject of discussion. If a committee member notices that you do not understand what you are writing about, the assignment will be given a zero;

There are documents that regulate the structure and content of CMMs - codifiers and specifications. A complete list of questions that can be controlled at the unified state exam in 2018 is given in the codifier of content elements and requirements for the level of training of graduates of educational organizations for conducting a unified state exam 2018 in English.

Demo version of the Unified State Exam 2018 in English

Assignment option + written answers	variant + answer
Oral part - demo version	Option+criteria
Codifier	download
Specification	download
Listening	audio

Changes to KIM 201 There are no 8 years of English compared to 2017. The criteria for assessing the completion of tasks 39 and 40 of the “Writing” section in the written part of the exam have been clarified.

Minimum score Unified State Exam 2017 in English - 22

Maximum primary score for work - 100.

Written part of the KIM Unified State Exam in English

The work consists of four sections: “Listening”, “Reading”, “Grammar and Vocabulary”, “Writing”.

Section 1 (“Listening”) contains 9 tasks. The recommended time to complete the tasks in section 1 is 30 minutes.

Section 3 (“Grammar and Vocabulary”) contains 20 tasks. The recommended time to complete the tasks in section 3 is 40 minutes.

Section 4 (“Writing”) consists of 2 tasks. The recommended time to complete the tasks in this section of the work is 80 minutes.

Oral part of the KIM Unified State Exam in English includes 4 tasks.

Task 1 – reading aloud a short text of a popular science nature. Preparation time: 1.5 minutes.

In task 3 you are asked to choose one of three photographs and describe it based on the plan. Preparation time: 1.5 minutes.

In task 4 the task is to compare two photographs based on the proposed plan. Preparation time: 1.5 minutes. The total response time for one examinee (including preparation time) is 15 minutes. Each subsequent task is issued after the completion of the previous task. The entire response time is audio and video recorded.

Many graduates who plan to take the Unified State Exam in English in 2018 have a huge number of questions related to scores, assignments, and time to complete them.

The Unified State Exam in English will be a final school exam, the writing of which is open to everyone. It is the Unified State Exam indicators that will act as the state exam when entering a university. At the moment, it is not necessary to take it, but if after graduation you want to enroll in a specialized university, then you will have to take it.

The structure of the Unified State Examination in English is very similar to international exam FCE, which is carried out in most European countries, to determine the level of development of the knowledge base on the subject. To pass, you must get the Upper-Intermediate mark (above average), which is not an easy task.

It is recommended to start preparing for the exam from the beginning of 10th grade. Only in this way, by gradually repeating all the material covered, will the student be able to master the knowledge in which there was a gap and fully prepare for the Unified State Exam in English in 2018. Of course, this process may take less time, but only if the student has high level knowledge, and always tries to achieve perfection.

The exam consists of two parts: oral and written, which are held on different days. First, graduates of 2017-2018 pass the written block, which includes listening, reading, writing, speaking, as well as checking grammar and vocabulary. In total you need to complete 40 tasks in 3 hours. 80 – maximum score which can be obtained.

The second block – oral – is taken at the student’s request and is aimed at improving the already completed result. You are given only 15 minutes to complete it, during which you need to solve 4 additional tasks. Thus, you can improve your English language score by 20 points.

Any teacher will insist on attending both parts of the exam, because even if the student fails the second part, the student will not worsen his result for the written block, but will have a chance to improve it.

There will be no changes to the Unified State Examination in English in 2018, so there is no reason to worry.

Demo version of the 2018 exam

The demo version of the Unified State Exam in English 2018, which includes changes and additions that are relevant for this year, will help you understand the structure of the exam and the requirements.

Download:
ege-2018-ang-demo.zip(23 Mb).
Inside the archive are demo versions of the written and oral parts, an mp3 listening file, a codifier and a specification.

How the exam works

The Unified State Exam in English has a very specific structure; the CMM makes it possible to quickly check the level of knowledge and skills according to basic parameters. Exam structure:

Listening includes 3 audio fragments, which are connected into one tape. Having turned it on, the teacher does not have the right to pause or stop. There is a short pause between fragments, during which students must write the correct answers on the form.
Reading. Half an hour and 9 tasks are allotted to complete this section. Among the main ones is to read short texts and connect them with suitable names, of which there will be 1 more.
Advice: most often, it is in the first sentence that the main meaning of the test text is displayed, and then only clarifying details and little things that are not useful are given. As for the questions about the meaning of the text read, they go in the same order as the chronology of the story. This can also be tracked in FIPI tasks, which are freely available on the Internet.
Vocabulary and grammar are designed to assess the number of words learned, and the ability to form the correct constructions from them, using the right tense and preposition.
Among the main tasks may be: enter the desired word, or present it in a certain tense, adding an ending, or raising it to the desired form.
The written part consists of two tasks, which take 80 minutes to complete. The first involves a letter from a friend with a series of questions to which the student must write an answer.
The second task is to write an essay on English. A controversial judgment is given as a topic, and the student must express an opinion on this matter and explain his point of view. Only full disclosure of his thoughts and feelings will probably give the highest score. We advise you not to deviate from the stated length of presentation of 200-250 characters. A demo version will help you practice writing, with the help of which your preparation will go well. You can also download a collection of essays, in which you will find many examples of correctly written works.
Oral speech. The test takes place in front of a computer screen using a headset. The monitor shows the time countdown; in total, 15 minutes are given for 4 tasks.
Having completed all the blocks, the student can receive a maximum score when passing the unified state exam. For each individual task, a student in the class receives certain points, which are then summed up.

The minimum passing score this year is 22, and the maximum is 100. After receiving the result, according to certain new criteria, it is transferred to the standard five-point system, which is more familiar:

A score of 0-21 corresponds to a score of 2, and means that the test in the subject has failed.
22-58 points is a score of 3.
59-83 points means a good result and a score of 4.
Scoring 84-100 points means that you passed the exam perfectly, grade 5.

Usually, the results can be found out within 14 days after passing, when both blocks have been passed. But, in some cases, estimates can be found out within 12 days. To do this, you need to visit the official website and find your last name. The mandatory issuance of paper certificates has been abolished, and they can now be viewed exclusively on the Internet.

Date

At the moment, it is a little early to talk about the date of the exam; there is only preliminary information that may still change. The final decision will be announced in early 2018, but the latest information is:

At the end of March (preliminarily on the 22nd) an early examination will be held. Graduates of previous years, evening school students, future army personnel, foreigners, or those leaving the country are allowed to take this version. In this case, it is important to have a demonstration document confirming one of the above facts.
The main period will start on May 28. All interested students can take part in it.
The additional period is designated from September 4.

How to prepare for the Unified State Exam

The very essence and Unified State Exam structure have not been affected by the changes, which means that preparation for it remains as thorough and difficult as in previous years. In order to achieve the optimal option, you need to initially correctly distribute your time in order to have time to repeat all the material before the decisive day. There is no need to combine different types activities, and not just one. For example, you need to spend time reading and speaking, and not just practicing writing test assignments.

The FIPI website will be an excellent assistant in preparing for the Unified State Exam. The site has an extensive bank of tasks of varying difficulty. The FIPI task bank allows you to significantly improve your skills by simply completing number by number. By constantly training on such a simulator and studying the tasks of 2018, you will certainly achieve good results.

In addition, try to surround yourself with English-language sources of information as much as possible: watch films in a foreign language, read books, listen to the lyrics of your favorite songs.