Session 4 · about 55 minutes · B1 / B2 / C1
Expanding your vocabulary and grammarCore lexicon · C1 extension · past narrative
| Core (B1+) | C1 extension |
|---|---|
| human computer, trajectory, to verify, segregation, supervisor, engineer, to orbit, checklist, briefing, to abolish | institutional barrier, recognition, hierarchy, equal opportunity, glass ceiling, meritocracy, to dramatise, composite character, expertise, workplace discrimination |
Write six sentences. Each uses two core words. Stay historically accurate.
Write eight sentences mixing core + at least three C1 words.
Write a 150-word coherent paragraph on promotion and recognition at Langley using at least six C1 words.
Show answers · samples
- Katherine Johnson verified the trajectory before Glenn went into orbit.
- Although segregation was an institutional barrier, Vaughan’s promotion to supervisor showed that expertise could open a path, yet recognition remained uneven.
Past simple for completed facts. Past continuous for background. Past perfect for the earlier past. Relative clauses with who / which / where / whose.
Rewrite (all levels): combine each pair with a relative clause.
- Dorothy Vaughan led West Area Computing. She became NACA’s first Black supervisor in 1949.
- Friendship 7 launched on 20 February 1962. John Glenn was on board.
- Al Harrison appears in the film. He is a composite character.
Guided oral 60 seconds: one past perfect, one relative clause, three core words.
Guided oral 90 seconds: two relative clauses, one past perfect, one C1 word.
Guided oral 2 minutes: analytical career narrative with at least three relative clauses and two C1 words; include one concessive clause.
Show answers · combined sentences
- Dorothy Vaughan, who became NACA’s first Black supervisor in 1949, led West Area Computing.
- Friendship 7, which launched on 20 February 1962, carried John Glenn into orbit.
- Al Harrison, who appears in the film, is a composite character.
120-word biography with three relative clauses.
160-word biography with three relative clauses and two C1 words.
220-word analytical biography: job identity, barrier, recognition; mark past perfect forms.