HOW well you can do in the CET-SET depends on how well you prepare. That involves not only your command of spoken English itself, but your ability to handle various situations before and during the test.

To begin with, you need to familiarize yourself with the test format. As was mentioned in the article on the June 26 issue, the CET-SET has three parts. The first has some warm-up questions. It is intended to give you a few minutes to calm down, adjust your seating and microphone, and get acquainted with the examiner's voice. In it, you are asked to give your name and your admission receipt number, a brief introduction about yourself, and an answer to one or two questions. The self-introduction can include your major, hobbies, or work you would like to do in the future, preferably with a few words explaining why. Remember, you are not supposed to mention the name of your college or university anywhere during the test, and your answers should be short and sweet, because there are only five minutes for this part and there are two other test-takers in your group.

Of course, it would enhance your image or impress the examiners if, upon entering the test room, you were to greet them smilingly with "Good morning", or "Good afternoon", or say something like "May I sit down?" or "Shall I sit here?"

The second part lasts 10 minutes and is for individual presentations and group discussions on a more specific topic. You are each given a card with a picture, a graph or a statement, with different contents but all related to the topic. You are allowed one minute for preparation. Be sure to finish your presentation within a minute and a half, but do not be concerned if the examiners interrupt you at the end of the time.

When each of you has talked about the card, the examiners will ask you to hold a discussion and see whether you can reach an agreement on what you have discussed. During the discussion you can argue or ask each other questions to clarify points. Your performance will be judged on the contribution you make to the discussion.

During the one-minute preparation, you are expected to organize your thoughts by centring them on the topic. The examiners may be interested in what you say, but they often care more about how you say what you want to say. So it is important that you be imaginative and bold in expressing your ideas, without being nervous. Do not be discouraged if you suddenly lose track of your thinking and have nothing to say. Neither should you feel frustrated if you find that your teammates are talking better than you. Should something like this occur, you could take the opportunity to ask them a question or two, or comment on their statements or conclusions, with a view to convincing them and winning them over to your argument. You should try to do everything possible to give a good performance.

The third part also takes five minutes. Here, the examiners ask each of you a final question on the same topic. This gives you another opportunity to elaborate your views or to add a few things you forgot to mention or didn't have time to say earlier. You should take advantage of this last chance to demonstrate your speaking ability to the fullest.

Throughout the test, it helps if you can cite figures or give practical examples to support your argument. Often, a proverb or witty saying can add force and colour to your speech. Where you need a pause, you could try to make proper use of such conversation fillers as "Well", "Yes", "Let me see", "OK", "Excuse me", "I beg your pardon" or "Sure." Instead of bluntly stating "You're wrong" or "I don't agree with you", you might tone it down a bit by saying, "I'm afraid you're mistaken" or "I'm sorry I can't agree with you." Grammatical blunders like "although ... but ..." "because ... so ..." "his husband", "he come", are, of course, among the most undesirable, and therefore should be avoided no matter what.

When you leave the test room at the end of the test, remember to say "Thank you" and "Good-bye" to the examiners and shake hands with your teammates. The examiners always appreciate this little courtesy on the part of the test takers.

Coming up: Sample analysis with comment on how to improve CET-SET.

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The author is a professor of English at NanjingUniversity.