As this is a test of your proficiency in the English language, you are not being tested on your knowledge of specific areas of study. Texts are created for the non-specialist reader and listener. You are being tested on your ability to comprehend only the information presented in the tests.

All three parts of COPE are based on the idea of "CHANGE". For example, the Lecture deals with changes that affect the whole planet. The Summary focusses on recent developments that affect our daily lives. The Fill-in-the Blanks section describes historic change in societies and cultures across the world. The Reading Comprehension text examines socio-economic change in Canada. The test is designed  so that language and ideas from one section may help in other parts.

1. The COPE Reading Test is divided into four parts which take 90 minutes in total to complete and are worth 40 marks
  (10 marks each). You must score 50% to reach Level 1, and at least 70% to reach Level 2.

Part A:   Free Response   [10 marks]

Both Parts A and B are based on the same text which consists of neutral, factual information. In the present COPE series, we are focussing on environmental concerns. You should read the 8 paragraph passage as a whole first.  In Part A,  you are expected to write a short (2-3 paragraph) essay based on the main ideas in the passage. Many candidates fail this part of the test because they try to introduce their own ideas at this point. This is not appropriate as we are trying to find out how much you have understood of the writer's ideas, and we state this clearly on the test paper. For the same reason, we expect you to answer this question in your own words as far as possible in order to demonstrate that you have understood the content. If you copy directly from the passage without any evidence of comprehension, no marks can be given. N.B: Your  answer is marked for reading comprehension only, not for writing proficiency or style.

The free response prompt is phrased as a statement which you have to either explain or defend.
E.G.  According to the passage, explain how we can help prevent environmental damage.

Part B:  Reading Comprehension : Multiple Choice   [10 marks]

In Part B, the passage has been reproduced in the form of 8 separate paragraphs which are followed by multiple choice questions. There are 10 questions altogether. The questions are based on information that is stated in the text or can be inferred (understood, but not directly stated) from the text. Each question is followed by four possible answers. You must choose one best answer (a), (b), (c), or (d) and circle or check the appropriate answer on the Answer Sheet. Each correct answer is worth one mark. If you are not sure of the right answer, make the best guess you can. No marks are deducted for incorrect answers.

Example: This is one paragraph taken from a longer text on the topic of environmental degradation.

Since environmental issues are deeply interconnected, improvements in one sector will benefit  others. Forest protection helps control greenhouse gases, preserves watersheds and protects species from extinction. Planting more trees can improve the local and regional climate. It also provides jobs now and in the future. Energy conservation will result in lower emissions of air pollutants,  reducing the risk of climate change and harmful effects on health. If for no other reason than to protect our own health and the health of our children, we must develop a new and respectful approach to our environment. Individually and collectively, we have the power to undo much of the harm that has been done and to reduce our future impact on the environment.

Question 1. The writer believes that protection of the environment depends on
a) concentrating on one problem at a time
b) allowing our children to lead healthy lives
c) using energy  to increase life expectancy
d) *changing our attitude to problems we have created.
[The best answer here would be choice (d). Choice (a) is a logical possibility when faced with any task but not what this writer suggests. Choice (b) is clearly important but is an outcome of environmental protection, not a way of achieving it. Choice (c) makes no sense in this context.]

Question 2.   The underlined word emissions in this paragraph is closest in meaning to
a) grade  b)*levels   c) losses   d) vacancies [Choice (b) would be best although it is not an exact synonym of emissions.]

Part C:   Fill-in-the-gaps   [10 marks]
In this section, you are given a short passage divided into four paragraphs. You answer 20 questions worth 1/2 mark each totaling 10 marks. The first and fourth paragraphs are complete in order to familiarize you with the content of the text. Read the whole text first. In the second paragraph, you circle the most appropriate word from a sequence of 3 underlined words at 10 different points in the text. In the third paragraph, there are 10 gaps to be filled in with a word or words of your own choice which are appropriate to the meaning and structure of the passage.  A shortened  example follows.
Hint: try to do this task as quickly as possible because the more subconsciously ä you do it, the more likely you are to find the right word.

Paragraph One
At the end of the 15th century hundreds of merchants from Arabia, Persia, India and China, as well as Indonesia closer at hand, flocked together every year in Malacca, which was then the centre of inter-Asian trade. Like a rich and colourful pageant under the blazing tropical sun, this busy eastern market made an indelible impression on the first Europeans who visited Malacca. .....

Paragraph Two
The main reasons for its popularity was that it had a good 1. a) shallow b)* sheltered c) shaded harbour which was accessible in the monsoon season and safe in any weather. Also, there were no dangerous sandbanks and rocks which could 2. a) drown b) display c)* damage the ships. The Gujurati in particular came 3. a) *in b) on  c) an large numbers. As the most able seafarers in those days in that part of the world, they manned the ships of Gujurat, which was the most important trading country on the west coast of India at the time...................

Explanation

#1. All three words can be used to describe a harbour, but the rest of the sentence tells you that it is a good harbour which is accessible in any weather. Therefore it is unlikely to be shallow , while shaded refers to protection from the sun, not winds and rain ; therefore, sheltered is a better choice.

#2. The word dangerous should alert you to the possibility of something bad. As display means to show off, it is unlikely to be the best choice. Drown is bad but is normally used of living things, not of ships. Damage is a consequence of danger and is the best choice here.

#3. Here you must carefully examine the grammar, not just the meaning. An is impossible in front of a consonant and a plural noun. On can be used after came in contexts which suggest movement forward. In this case came means  arrived while in large numbers is a common phrase used to describe the size of a group, so is the best choice here.

Paragraph Three
Besides the seamen, there were the actual traders, merchants who were 1._______  considerable capital or valuable cargo. 2.________ were agents of prominent foreign merchants who stayed at home themselves and 3.________ on their business by proxy.  There were also lesser traders 4. _____  had embarked with small freights only.

Explanation
#1 requires part of the verb phrase in a progressive (or continuous) form. In terms of meaning, the following words would fit:    carrying, transporting or bringing.
#2 requires a subject of the verb were and could be They, Some, or Many, referring to merchants.
#3 requires another verb governed by foreign merchants and, because the verb is followed by on, the only real possibility is carried. Note that you can carry on  business. It is in the past tense in agreement with stayed.
#4  The connective who refers to the lesser traders in the main clause and is the best grammatical choice here although modern English would also allow that in its place.
Paragraph Four
As for the merchants established in Malacca, the large-scale traders were to be found chiefly among the Klings and the Javanese. They sometimes succeeded in acquiring positions of considerable power if they were authorized to act as representatives of their country but tended to live in residential districts separate from the local people.

Part D:  Summary  [10 marks]
The summary text reflects the writer's personal attitude or opinions.  The COPE series focuses on current trends in society. The writer's comments are not always directly stated and can be negative or positive in bias.  You may not agree with them. You are to read the summary text for its argument rather than simply for information. Your task is to summarize the passage by inferring and explaining the main and supporting ideas in the format included below the text. The first question asks you to explain the writer's bias and main idea. The second question requires you to explain the "supporting points" the author uses to defend the main point and you must relate these directly to the main idea. Please limit your answers to the space provided. One or two sentences is usually enough to explain each point satisfactorily. You should not add your own ideas as support or objection to those of the writer, but use your own words to explain the writer's ideas.

The following sample consists of the first two paragraphs of a summary text followed by the questions which appear on the test.

Here we go again. It seems the more we create a better world in terms of home comforts, people run around saying we should do without them. Personally, I like lots of hot water for showers and baths. I also like my microwave oven, television set, stereo system, hair dryer and laundry appliances. These aids make it possible for me to spend time on the things that really matter: my job and social life. But there are always people who think that such things are somehow sinful, and what do they do? They try to take them away from me. But it won't work. Our personal needs are too important.

For example, a local architect has built a self-sufficient house which will operate completely independently of basic utilities and city services. More than that, he claims that his design will help the environment. But will it help me? Apparently the house will contain the following so-called improvements. There will be a composting tank in the basement that processes sewage and provides one cubic foot of fertilizer for the garden every four years. I can't wait!  Especially as I can buy some from the local nursery anytime. Drinking water will be supplied by rain and snow from an external tank, then treated with lime to neutralize acid caused by air pollution. Sounds like a chemical cocktail to me. What if it doesn't work?

1) In the opinion of the writer, an environmentally friendly house ....[2 marks]

MAIN IDEA:
An environmentally friendly house is  not a good idea because people will not sacrifice their modern conveniences for environmental improvements.
OR
is unlikely to succeed because we are more concerned with personal comfort than the environmental needs of society as a whole.
[These are examples only. There are many ways of expressing the main idea but there should s be two parts to it: contrasting the personal with the larger good. The bias is for personal satisfaction over public good]

2) In your own words, explain four examples the writer uses to support this main idea. Explain how they relate to the main idea.  [8 marks]

SUPPORTING ARGUMENTS
1) we like our modern appliances/conveniences  (microwave, hairdryer etc.) because they save us time
2) we prefer convenience (ease of use) to hard work (laundry appliances etc.)
3) we are used to immediate gratification and can't wait (compost)
4) we are concerned that the "improvements" might not be safe (chemical cocktail).
[They all relate to the main idea because they are examples of how personal needs outweigh environmental concerns]
HINTS. Avoid quoting directly from the text. Quoting does not demonstrate that you have understood the meaning of the argument being made in the summary. Explain how the supporting argument is connected to the main argument or you will lose the second mark in each case. Do not include too many ideas as the marker will assume that you did not understand the task.

Also, pay attention to the "tone" of the passage which is often ironic or sarcastic . Irony is when someone says one thing but means the opposite, or is implicitly criticizing the word or words used. For example, in the second paragraph, the writer says ãI can't wait which suggests that he welcomes the new idea. But in this case, he is being sarcastic and means that he is not prepared to wait  four years and is making fun of the idea!
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2. The COPE  writing test consists of an essay which is loosely based on the ideas in the summary which you have just completed as part of the Reading Test. The Reading Test will already have been collected before you receive the essay topic so that you cannot refer directly to it; however, you will already have formed some ideas of your own. For example, a possible topic on Green House could be

We should be willing to give up some personal conveniences in order to build environmentally friendly homes.
Do you agree or disagree with this opinion? You should support your answer with your own ideas and information. You can also use examples from the summary text if you wish.

Your essay is meant to be your own argument for or against a statement of opinion. You may take either side, or even argue for both sides as long as you come to a conclusion. You have 35 minutes to complete your essay. Aim for an essay of 4-5 paragraphs, and take time to read through your essay and make changes and corrections. Such corrections are treated as evidence of language development, not as errors.  The essay is then scored using a banding system which is reproduced for you below.

Writing Assessment Bands for non-native speakers of English ELDA. ©

Papers that score '3' demonstrate a superior ability to communicate effectively:
the ideas presented can be followed easily;
the main ideas and supporting details can be easily identified and are
 logically and coherently developed in an appropriate organizational framework;
the writing shows a range of sentence types and vocabulary;
occasional minor errors in grammar or word choice do not obscure meaning.

Papers that score '2' demonstrate a clear ability to communicate effectively:
the ideas presented can be followed with little difficulty;
the main ideas and supporting details can be identified and ideas are adequately developed;
EITHER the writing demonstrates a range of sentence types and
 vocabulary but contains surface errors in grammar or word choice;
OR the writing is relatively accurate in terms of grammar and word choice but
 does not demonstrate a range of sentence types or vocabulary.

Papers that score '1' demonstrate some ability to communicate effectively:
the ideas presented can be followed with some difficulty;
the main ideas and supporting details can be identified most of the time; however
  arguments may lack relevance or coherence and may be only partially developed;
complex sentences may be avoided or used incorrectly;
adequate use of grammar and vocabulary but contains errors that obscure meaning.

Papers that score '0' demonstrate little ability to communicate effectively:
the ideas presented are difficult to follow or do not address the topic;
the paper lacks a clear organizational structure and ideas are inadequately presented;
the writing shows a limited range of sentence structure and vocabulary and
 contains frequent errors in sentence structure, grammar and vocabulary choice;
OR there is not enough to evaluate
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3. The COPE Listening Test consists of one part based on informal conversation and a second part based on a more formal academic lecture. In the first case, you must listen for tone and attitude, while in the second case, you should focus on factual information. Part One is worth 15 marks and Part Two is worth 30 marks. You must score 50% to reach Level 1, and 72% to reach Level 2. The test takes approximately 90 minutes.

Part One:  Interactions  [15 marks]
The first four sets of questions are based on a series of taped spoken communications. These are included here in written form but will not be written down in the real test. There, you must listen carefully to the tape or CD.
There are normally 5 items in sections I and II, but only two examples are provided here.  There are  normally 3 items in section III and 2 items in section IV  but only one is provided here. [ Please Note: The responses are written on the test sheet, not spoken].

I. Answering Questions:
You will hear a short spoken question.  Circle the most appropriate response*.
  Speaker: How do I get to the textbook store?
a. That's a good idea. b.  It's too early to decide. c. *It's just across the street.  d. That's what I hoped.
  Speaker: Did the professor announce the next assignment yet?
a. *No, he'll do that on Thursday  b. No, he finished it last week  c. Yes, he gave us our marks. d. Yes, he was pleased with us.

II. Understanding Idioms and Expressions
What is the best meaning of the statement or question?
    Speaker: I 'd like to take up the last assignment.
a. You want to retrieve the assignment from your bag b. *You want to discuss the assignment
c. You want to forget about the assignment  d. You want to arrange for the assignment to be picked up
  Speaker: The student protest is getting out of hand.
a. It is already finished   b. It is difficult to understand   c. It is just beginning d. *It is out of control

III.  Predicting Responses
You will now  hear a  short conversation, and then you will be asked to predict a response. Circle the best answer .
Prof.  I must admit I expected a better performance than this from  you, Maria.
Maria.  I really can't understand why I got such a low mark.
Prof.  Well, I think you have missed a few lectures recently.

Maria will probably answer:
a. But I didn't do well in the college play.  b) *But I tried reading the textbook instead.
c. But I understood everything you said.  d) But I was not expecting to do well.

IV. Comprehending Conversations

You will hear a longer conversation.  Choose the best meaning from the statements which follow
Student: I've just been admitted to the university and I'd like to open a bank account at this branch.
Bank Teller: Of course. Would you please fill out this card. And here is a brochure which explains the different kinds of accounts you can have.  I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Student: I'd really just like the simplest one available. You see, it's quite urgent. I am having funds transferred from another country and I need a bank address and an account number so that they can send them to me as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'm going to be really short of cash and I need to pay my tuition fees. By the way, I notice the card asks for a permanent address. I'm afraid I don't have one yet. I'm staying in a university dormitory.
Bank Teller: That could cause some problems. We really prefer a permanent address, or maybe you have a local resident who could vouch for you?
Student: Not really, but I have met some of the other students on my floor in the dormitory.
Bank Teller: I'm afraid that we could not consider them as a credit reference. However, we can probably open a temporary checking account until something else can be arranged. How much do you want to deposit?
Student: But I don't have anything to deposit. That's why I need to have funds transferred.

The student will find it difficult to open a bank account:
a.  because she has references but no money.    b.*  because she has no references and no money.
c.  because she is transferring funds from a foreign country. d.  because she is staying in a dormitory and has no friends.

Part Two:  The Lecture
The rest of the listening test is based on an academic lecture. It is deliberately designed for non-specialists in the subject area; therefore special terms and names are often explained and even spelled out by the speaker. The lecture is divided into four sections and there are different question types attached to each one. Pay particular attention to these differences so that you will not be surprised on the actual test. You will be allowed to make notes as you listen.  These will be collected at the end of the test.
Section One.
As you listen to the first part of lecture, you will be asked to complete an outline and a chart based on what the lecturer is actually saying at the time. There are five questions or statements in the outline (worth 5 marks). There are five spaces in the chart which you complete (worth 5 marks).

The following sample is a shortened written form of a lecture which would normally be played on a CD during the test. When you are practising, it would be better to have someone read it out loud (rather than read it yourself) as you try to answer the questions. You will notice too that the text is deliberately designed to be spoken, and is not always in the grammatical form you would see in a text written to be read.

Lecturer:
Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome you to an introductory lecture on the early history of our planet, or as the series is officially called, "The Earth and Life Through Time." As you listen to the lecture, you'll hear some names that you don't recognize, that are new to you. Don't worry about this, as I'll spell out the important names for you, or you'll see them in your written handout.
The topic of today's lecture is the extinction of certain species, together with theories about the death or disappearance of whole categories of animals.  Evidence of these changes (which were sometimes catastrophic and perhaps the result of a great disaster) has been found in fossil records deposited over 800 million years. Apart from the disappearance of the dinosaurs [spelled d-i-n-o-s-a-u-r-s]..........I'm sure that most of you here are familiar with that part of the earth's history...or pre-history, I suppose I should say.....there have actually been 12 mass extinctions of species that scientists know about. The last great extinction took place about 65 million years ago when 60 to 80 % of all species vanished, including the dinosaurs which had ruled the earth for 150 million years......            {the lecture then continues to provide more information about the extinct species}

Outline
(Hint: You have to write your answers as the lecturer is speaking. Don't write too much or you will miss part of the lecture)
You will be given time to read the questions before the lecture begins so that you should listen carefully for significant points which will fit in as answers. These points are likely to be made directly by the lecturer and are presented in the same sequence as the lecture. In the real test, there are five questions which are worth one mark each. Here, two are given with  answers in italics.

1.  Scientists have learned about the extinction of species by studying fossil records.
(You would get the mark if you just wrote fossils.)
2. What happened 65 million years ago?
60 to 80% of all species vanished/ became extinct
(You would get only half a mark for writing that dinosaurs disappeared because this is not the main point, only an example.)
Note: you can use either the lecturer's exact words or your own in this part of the test.
After the Outline, you will hear information on which the Chart is based. There are usually examples and details to illustrate the main topic, some of which are reproduced in the chart on the test paper. You should expect to hear numbers and dates because these are an important part of university lectures. Listen for the details which fit into the numbered boxes. Again, you will have time to look at the chart before you hear the lecture. The SAMPLE CHART below has the answers included in italics.
{The next part of the sample lecture focusses on the fossil evidence mentioned above. }

Lecturer:
So, how do we know about these mass extinctions? To be honest, we are only at the theory stage and we cannot say for sure what really happened. What we do know is that discoveries made since the 1970's have radically changed our ideas about these changes. Some scientists now believe that the mass extinctions which took place 65 million years ago came about as a result of a catastrophic event which took place in a relatively short period of time....rather than as a result of a long drawn out process.  They mark the boundary between two of the great divisions of geological time: the end of the Mesozoic Era and the beginning of the Cenezoic Era. Don't worry about those names now. We will be studying more in future lectures. However, you should become familiar with the more specific reference points which you will find written on your test paper in Question #11: the Cretacious Period and the Tertiary Period. (Pause)
But you should now concentrate on the chart in your handout. You will see that five of the boxes (numbered 6-10) are incomplete and I am about to give you the information to complete them. What I am going to do now is compare four major examples of the relevant geological discoveries which have taken place in the last 40 years.  The first example took place in a place called Gubbio in central Italy. A team of scientists led by Walter Alvarez from the University of California were investigating a layer of clay sandwiched between the layers of the Cretacious Period and the Tertiary Period. They discovered unusually large deposits of two very rare minerals, called Iridium and Osmium......you will see these words written on the Chart in your handout. These metals are very heavy and very dense. More importantly for our lecture today, their creation requires very high temperatures and it is believed that they could only have been formed in an extremely hot astronomical event such as a supernova (or exploding star).
The Alvarez team found that the Gubbio clays contained 30 times more Iridium than the layer immediately above and below the 65 million year level. They didn't examine Osmium at this time so there are no results in that box. By the way, N/A means not available. They first published these findings in 1979.

My second example involves the same team who also then examined a similar layer of clay at Woodside Creek, near Wellington in New Zealand.  Here they found concentrations of Iridium 20 times higher than the rocks above and below them. These results were also reported in the 1979 article.
A third example is taken from the work of a team of scientists led by J. Smit from Amsterdam who examined clays near Caravaca, a town in Spain. At the upper end of the Cretacious level....in the last few centimetres, they found a dramatic rise in the concentrations of Iridium.........there were actually 196 times more than the strata below. The Osmium deposits were also much higher....201 times, in fact. These results were published in 1980. So we are looking at approximately 200 times the amount of these rare metals than had existed before.
Our fourth and last example is based on the results of work carried out in a place called Stvns Klimt in Denmark by a team led by Frank Kyte, also from the University of California. They found a concentration of Iridium 275 times and Osmium 550 times higher than the Upper Cretacious Period.  These results were published in the same year as the Smit results. These incredible differences obviously needed further analysis. How could this mystery be explained?

Section Two: You will be given time to read the free response question (#11) again. Take notes at this point because you will need them to answer the question. After this section of the lecture, you have 10 minutes to write an answer.
Lecturer:
But how did these high concentrations of Iridium, Osmium and other metals relate to the theory of a mass extinction 65 million years ago? Well, the first clue was that in the layer where these deposits were found, there were far fewer animal fossils than in the layer below. This suggested a sudden change rather than a long-term change over thousands or millions of years. But what could have caused such a sudden change? All three teams of scientists argued for an extra-terrestrial explosion source, such as a supernova, a comet or a meteorite. You might think that we have now moved into the realm of science-fiction but they did have good arguments to support their ideas. I can provide you with some of them here, but you should also do further reading to understand these ideas  better.
{The lecture continues with detail of the scientists arguments}.

Question #11: Write a brief summary of the scientists arguments to support an extra-terrestrial force theory based on their discoveries in the boundary clay between the Upper Cretacious and the Tertiary layers. [5 marks]

A good answer would synthesize (bring together) the points made by the lecture and should be presented in your own words as far as possible to show that you have understood what the lecturer has said or implied. You might also find relevant information in the chart but remember that this question is based primarily on information provided in Section Two.

Section Three: is followed by five True/False questions.  [5 marks]

Lecturer:  In this part of the lecture, I would like to introduce opposing theories which suggest gradual rather than sudden changes to the existence of life on this planet. The two main arguments can be expressed as follows:   One, there is competition from existing species which are better adapted to the environment. And two, there is a major change to the environment which causes long-term problems for particular species.
Let's look at the competition arguments first. It is possible, for example, that the dinosaurs had evolved to a very large size, that they were unwieldy, slow and stupid. Therefore, they were not equipped to deal with a challenge that could not be beaten simply by brute force. So what rivals existed at the same time as the dinosaurs, but continued to exist after the dinosaurs had disappeared?  The best examples are the birds and the mammals which have survived up to the present day..................

Two sample questions follow:  {you must circle either T or F, depending on whether you think the statement is True or False}
{T}/F The dinosaurs may have disappeared because other species were able to adapt better to the environment.
T/{F} Mammals have existed until now because they were larger than the dinosaurs.
Section Four: this final section is followed by one longer free-response question which brings together some of the main ideas of the lecture. In this part, the gradual theory is developed using arguments and examples. The question expects the writer to summarize these arguments in comparison to the sudden theories presented earlier in the lecture.

Sample free-response question [10 marks]:
Describe and explain the gradual theories proposed for the extinction the dinosaurs and other species. (6 marks) Briefly compare it with the sudden theories described earlier in the lecture. (4 marks) Support your answer with points made by the lecturer in this Section Four; however, you can also use specific examples from other parts of the lecture if you wish.

IMPORTANT: YOU WILL BE GIVEN ONE SHEET OF PAPER TO WRITE NOTES AS YOU ARE LISTENING TO THE LECTURE. THIS MUST BE HANDED TO THE SUPERVISORS AT THE END OF THE TEST. THE MARKERS WILL CHECK YOUR NOTES AND WILL SOMETIMES AWARD MARKS WHEN THEY DISCOVER THAT YOU HAVE UNDERSTOOD A POINT EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE NOT INCLUDED IT ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET. BECAUSE OF THIS, IT IS BETTER TO WRITE YOUR NOTES IN ENGLISH. BE SURE TO PUT YOU NAME ON THE NOTE SHEET AS WELL AS THE ANSWER SHEET.

Your answer is marked for listening comprehension only, not for writing style.