"Unlock is a five-level academic skills course that combines carefully scaffolded exercises, a comprehensive approach to critical thinking and motivating video.

Unlock Reading and Writing Skills Level 1 provides 60-90 hours of classroom material. Access to the Online Workbook is provided via a code packaged with the Student's Book.

Critical Thinking sections give students frameworks to formulate their own opinions and express themselves effectively in the end-of-unit academic tasks.

Unique research into common learner errors (using the Cambridge English Corpus) focuses the language used in Unlock on those areas learners find most challenging.

Videos from Discovery Education™ (accessible via the Cambridge Learning Management System and supplied on the Teacher's Book DVD) provide new angles on a range of academic subjects." (Publisher's Website)

CONTENTS

Map of the book / Introduction

Introduction / Teaching tips

Unit 1 - PEOPLE
READING 1: Friendfile (Communication studies)
READING 2: A very tall man! (Anthropology)

VIDEO: People

READING - Key reading skills:
Previewing
Understanding key vocabulary
Skimming
Scanning to find information

VOCABULARY: Family vocabulary (e.g. grandfather, grandmother, father, mother)

GRAMMAR:
Nouns and verbs
Singular and plural nouns

Grammar for writing:
The verb be
Personal pronouns
Possessive determiners

CRITICAL THINKING:
Analyze a family tree
Draw a family tree

WRITING:
Academic writing skills: Punctuation
Writing task type: Write descriptive sentences
Writing task: Write about somebody in your family

Unit 2 - SEASONS
READING 1: The coldest city in the world (Geography)
READING 2: Cuba weather (Meteorology)

VIDEO: Extreme weather

READING - Key reading skill:
Scanning to find information
Previewing
Understanding key vocabulary

VOCABULARY: Adjectives to describe the weather (e.g. warm, hot, cold, sunny)

GRAMMAR: Adjectives and nouns; Noun phrases

GRAMMAR FOR WRITING: Subject and verb; Prepositions; Prepositional phrases

CRITICAL THINKING: Understand a table

WRITING:
Academic writing skills: Punctuation: capital letters
Writing task type: Write facts
Writing task: Write facts about the weather in your city

Unit 3 - LIFESTYLE
READING 1: Can you imagine your life with no mobile phones or TV? (Anthropology)
READING 2: Timetable (Management)

VIDEO: Life underground

READING - Key reading skill:
Scanning to find information
Previewing
Understanding key vocabulary

VOCABULARY: Vocabulary for study (e.g. Maths, History, Chemistry, Business)

GRAMMAR: Collocations

GRAMMAR FOR WRITING: Subject - verb - object; Present simple; Time expressions

CRITICAL THINKING: Answer personal questions about routine; Create a timetable

WRITING:
Academic writing skills: Spelling third person singular forms
Writing task type: Write facts
Writing task: Write facts about the lifestyle of a student in your class

Unit 4 - Places
READING 1: A World history of maps (History)
READING 2: The Maldives: an overview (Geography)

VIDEO: France

READING - Key reading skill:
Reading for main ideas
Understanding key vocabulary
Previewing
Scanning to find information
Reading for detail

VOCABULARY:
Vocabulary for places in a city (e.g. museum, library, factory, monument)
Vocabulary for places in a country (e.g. hill, farm, field, forest)

GRAMMAR: Noun phrases with of

GRAMMAR FOR WRITING: There is / there are; Determiners: articles

CRITICAL THINKING: Order writing by topic; Classify words; Think of key words

WRITING:
Academic writing skills: Spelling and punctuation: capital letters
Writing task type: Write facts
Writing task: Write facts about your country

Unit 5 - SPORT
READING 1: The world's top five favourite sports (Sports studies)
READING 2: Sport in Brazil (Cultural studies)

VIDEO: Tai-Chi and Shaolin; Kung-Fu

READING - Key reading skill:
Using your knowledge to predict content
Understanding key vocabulary
Reading for main ideas
Scanning to find information
Scanning to predict content
Reading for detail

VOCABULARY: Adjectives to describe sports (e.g. hard, exciting, expensive, difficult)

GRAMMAR: Sports collocations; Prepositions; Adjectives

GRAMMAR FOR WRITING: Subject - verb - adjective; Subject - verb - adverb

CRITICAL THINKING: Create an ideas map

WRITING:
Academic writing skills: Commas
Writing task type: Write facts
Writing task: Write facts about a popular sport in your country

Unit 6 - JOBS
READING 1: Find_my_job.com (Business and management)
READING 2: Job emails (Business and management)

VIDEO: Dabbawallas

READING - Key reading skill:
Reading for detail
Previewing
Understanding key vocabulary
Scanning to find information
Working out meaning from context

VOCABULARY: Vocabulary for jobs (e.g. vet, fireman, manages people, prepares food)

GRAMMAR: Adjective phrases

GRAMMAR FOR WRITING: must and have to; joining sentences with and

CRITICAL THINKING: Complete a questionnaire; Choose a job based on Questionnaire results

WRITING:
Academic writing skills: Contractions
Writing task type: Write sentences
Writing task: Write a description of a job for a friend

Unit 7 - HOMES AND BUILDINGS
READING 1: Architect's world expert interview (Architecture)
READING 2: Skyscrapers (Architecture)

VIDEO: Building the new Shanghai

READING - Key reading skill: Using visuals to predict content

VOCABULARY:
Vocabulary for buildings (e.g. cinema, library, hotel, train station)
Vocabulary for parts of buildings (e.g. car park, stairs, exit, garden)
Adjectives to describe buildings (e.g. big, modern, old, ugly)

GRAMMAR - Grammar for writing:
Comparing quantities
Comparative adjectives
Joining sentences with but

CRITICAL THINKING: Compare data

WRITING:
Academic writing skills: Spelling: double consonants
Writing task type: Write a comparison
Writing task: Write a comparison of two buildings

Unit 8 - FOOD AND CULTURE
READING 1: Tea: A world history (History)
READING 2: Ten of the best by cuisine (Hospitality management)

VIDEO: Mexican food

READING - Key reading skill:
Skimming
Previewing
Understanding key vocabulary
Scanning to find information
Reading for detail

VOCABULARY: Vocabulary for food and drink (e.g. potatoes, coconut, yoghurt, water)

GRAMMAR: Countable and uncountable nouns

GRAMMAR FOR WRITING: Subject-word agreement; Determiners: a, an an some

CRITICAL THINKING: Brainstorm; Analyze notes; Make notes

WRITING:
Academic writing skills: Spelling
Writing task type: Write descriptive sentences
Writing task: Write about food in your country for a student website

Unit 9 - THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
READING 1: Variety in the animal kingdom (Zoology)
READING 2: The world's fastest hunters (Zoology)

VIDEO: South African wildlife

READING - Key reading skill:
Reading for main ideas
Previewing
Understanding key vocabulary
Reading for detail
Using your knowledge
Skimming
Scanning to find information
Understanding discourse

VOCABULARY:
Vocabulary to describe facts about animals (e.g. long, high, weighs, habitat)
Vocabulary for animals (e.g. harmless, endangered, deadliest, nocturnal)

GRAMMAR: can and cannot

GRAMMAR FOR WRITING: Superlative adjectives

CRITICAL THINKING: Analyze a table of facts

WRITING:
Academic writing skills: Spelling
Writing task type: Write a descriptive paragraph
Writing task: Write a paragraph about an animal

Unit 10 - TRANSPORT
READING 1: Transport survey (Transport and logistics)
READING 2: Transport in Bangkok: report (Urban planning)

VIDEO: Tokyo transport

READING - Key reading skill:
Working out meaning from context
Previewing
Using your knowledge
Skimming
Scanning to find information
Understanding key vocabulary
Reading for detail
Understanding discourse

VOCABULARY: Transport collocations (e.g. take the bus, travel by car)

GRAMMAR: Quantifiers

GRAMMAR FOR WRITING: Subject - verb - object; Linking sentences with pronouns

CRITICAL THINKING: Collect data with a survey

WRITING:
Academic writing skills: Error correction
Writing task type: Write a paragraph
Writing task: Write a paragraph about transport in your city

Glossary / Review test answer key

Video scripts / Review tests

Acknowledgements / Model answers and additional writing tasks

Acknowledgements

Level: Beginner (A1)