TOEIC pt1. Photographs

In this initial TOEIC section you have an answerbook in front of you, you will be told to turn to a particular page and look at a specific picture.  You will then listen to FOUR statements which might describe the image and you have to identify which one best describes the image.

This is the first part of the TOEIC test – you may be nervous, so the more practice you can get to ease yourself into the examination with some confidence the better.

We are going to rehearse you for this in a number of ways on this programme:

• you will be given (or be asked to select online or from magazines maybe) a particular image or advertisment.  You will be asked to describe and analyse the image, the component elements, and talk about things like your initial impression and how that changed as you looked further and deeper, perhaps concluding with a justification of why the advert did or did not work for you.  For example, some 'classic' TV adverts from yesteryear:
  • Cadbury's 'Smash'…
  • Cadbury's Flake…
  • Heineken refreshes the parts that other beers cannot reach.
  • Happiness is…..
  • …. and another one! 
  • PG Tips
  • Rolo
  • BT 'Beattie': An 'ology….
  • BT Beattie and the ansaphone
  • Cinzano Rossiter and Collins
  • Findus Alf Garnett
  • Ford Puma McQueen
  • Guiness 'Pure Genius'. 
  • Creature Comforts Heat Electric
  • Tango'd
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• You will engage with online sources that offer such tests, such as:
  • Englishteststore.net (www.englishteststore.net) and
  • www.english-test.net/toeic/ and
  • www.toeic-test.org/.  [This is probably the best of the sites for this purpose]
  • NB. These are identical to the TOEIC tests so keep practicing in your own time until you are 100% consistent (at above 80% answers correct – which approximates TOEIC 750). We may do some of these in class… but because it is so easy to access and to practice from any networked terminal, I would prefer you to make it your business to do these in your own time. 
    • Classic Images for you to describe and analyse:
    • The Twin Towers Photo from Time Magazine
  • That Tianenmen square photograph: by Jeff Widener
  • Vietnam Napalm girl photo
  • Audi Logo
  • The Dollar Bill:  one side / the other side
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