The "Kickstart" course is designed for intermediate students who need to develop their skills work as the first stage in working towards the FCE exam. It provides thorough training in language skills, gives vocabulary and grammar a high profile, and introduces the type of questions students encounter in exams. Each unit includes two reading texts: an authentic text to practise intensive reading skills, and a story that's fun to read - but also recycles vocabulary and grammar. The stories are recorded on cassette and are exploited in the Workbook Grammar is presented through a cartoon strip with strong teen appeal and the "Grammar in Action" section provides further practice. There is intensive listening practice and more than one listening focus in many units. Short speaking tasks throughout develop students' confidence and phrase boxes with useful expressions improve speaking skills. Writing tasks take students from writing sentences to writing paragraphs and exam-length tasks. Sample answers are always included in each unit "Working with Words" sections after every two units revise and extend students' vocabulary and "Backtrack" sections after every two units revise grammar and