English for

Answers 
1 b 2 c 3 a 
Listening
3 
Answers 
1 from Latin
2 syllabi, syllabuses
Audioscript 
32
Lecturer: All right … If you are teaching a class, preparing a 
good syllabus for your course should be your top priority. Do 
you know the origin of the word ‘syllabus’? 
Students: Er, Latin?
Not really.
I’m not sure.
Lecturer: Yes, 
1
the noun ‘syllabus’ comes from Latin and means 
‘a list’. As it is of Latin origin, but was borrowed by the English 
language ages ago, it has two forms of plural, one originating 
from Latin that is 
2
‘syllabi’, and the other is a regular English 
one: 
2
‘syllabuses’. OK? 
Well, when you teach a class you may be required to make 
an outline of what you will expect the students to do in your 
class. That’s the syllabus. A syllabus is like a table of contents 
of a book that gives readers a clue what is inside and it also 
contains a promise by the author that it is interesting. That’s 
why my goal as a teacher is to make that table of contents as 
effective as possible, as clear as possible, as helpful as possible 
both for the student and for myself because I know I’m bound 
by that syllabus too, not just my students.
So we can say that the definition of a syllabus is a brief 
statement or summary of the topics covered in an academic 
course. Of course there could be many other definitions, but 
one way or another, this is the main meaning of a syllabus.
4 
Answers
statement, summary, topics, academic course
5 
Learners’ own answers.

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English for Academics Book 2 Teacher’s Guide
© Cambridge University Press and British Council Russia 2015
www.cambridge.org/elt/english-for-academics