FCE B2 First Reading and Use of English Exam Part One How to Do Parts 14
Hello, I’m Olivier.
Welcome to Oxford Online English.
In this lesson, you can learn how to do the
Cambridge FCE reading and use of English exam.
The FCE Reading and Use of English exam takes
75 minutes and has seven parts.
The questions are worth one or two marks each.
This will be a two-part video on the exam,
explaining everything you need to know.
Let’s get started!
Part one of the test is a short text with
eight gaps that you have to fill.
This is called a cloze test.
This one is multiple choice, so for each gap,
you need to choose the correct answer from
four options.
Have a look at this sample question:
Biology is a branch of science.
It concerns the natural world, _____ than
chemicals or matter and energy.
Now look at the multiple choices for this
question:
Which answer do you think is correct?
Before I tell you, it’s a good idea to look
at the question and see if it gives you any
clues.
You can see that you need a word which goes
with than.
Only one of these answers will fit.
If you don’t know the answer immediately,
then what should you do?
If you’re not sure, then look carefully
at the answers and eliminate the options that
are definitely not right.
For example, we know the answer can’t be
instead.
Instead of, not instead than.
What about except?
Can you say except than?
No, you can’t.
You can say except that, except when, except
if and except for, but you can’t say except
than.
What about sooner than?
Is it possible?
Yes: you can say sooner than and rather than.
So how do you know which answer is correct?
If both answers are grammatically correct,
then you need to read through the sentence
with both words to see which one makes logical
sense.
We use sooner than as a comparison to say
that something is earlier or faster than something
else.
That meaning doesn’t fit here, and so rather
than must be the correct answer.
Did you get it right?
With this part of the test, it’s important
to do a few things:
Firstly, look at the words surrounding the
gap to see if they fit with the answer.
Are they part of a phrasal verb, idiom or
collocation?
Is there a preposition that will only fit
with certain words?
If you’re not sure of the answer, eliminate
ones you know are incorrect to narrow it down
and give you a better chance.
Finally, read through the sentence with the
answer to make sure it makes sense!
Sometimes things are grammatically correct,
but they don’t make sense.
Let’s move on to part two!
Part two is similar to part one.
In this part of the FCE use of English test,
you’ll get a short text with eight gaps.
But, to make it harder, there aren’t any
multiple choices in this part.
Instead, you have to think of the correct
word and write it in the gap.
For example:
I have a degree _____ international relations.
In this part of the test, the missing word
is also likely to be an article, a preposition,
a pronoun, or what I like to call the building
blocks of language.
A common mistake that students make in this
part of the test is using lots of nouns.
While it’s true that some answers may be
nouns, it’s more likely you’ll need to
use a ‘building block’ word: something
which is needed to make the sentence grammatically
complete, rather than something which adds
meaning to the sentence.
When you read through your questions, pay attention
to the structure of the sentence and think
about what’s missing.
It can also be helpful to make notes while
you’re reading the text.
For example, if you notice that you need a
preposition in a specific gap, but you aren’t
sure which one yet, make a note next to the
gap.
Are you ready to have a go?
Look at your question:
Do you know what kind of word we need here?
We need a preposition, of course. But do you know which preposition?
With subjects, like history, English or international
relations, we use the preposition in.
So, the correct answer is:
I have a degree in international relations.
Let’s look at another example:
People often think my work is very boring,
but ______ from some paperwork, it isn’t
at all!
If you read this sentence carefully, it’s
saying that the paperwork is the only boring
thing in the job.
The paperwork is the exception.
What are some words or phrases that mean that
something’s an exception?
You could say except for, apart from, other
than.
These are the most obvious answers, although
there are other possibilities, too.
Do you know the answer yet?
That’s right, it’s apart.
Apart from means something is an exception,
and apart fits with the preposition from in
the sentence.
Now let’s move on to part three!
Part three of the FCE reading and use of English
exam is about word formation.
Like parts one and two, you need to fill a
gap.
However, in part three, you have a stem word
which you need to change to fill the gap.
For example, you might see the word LONG as
your stem word.
You might need to change the word to length
or longer or longest, depending on the question.
Let’s look at your sample question:
What most people find difficult with this
curry is how strong and _____ it is.
The stem word with this question is SPICE.
It’s a good idea to read through the question
to see what kind of word you need first.
Spice can be a noun or a verb—but what do
you need in this question?
Do you need a verb?
If so, what tense?
Do you need an adjective?
If so, do you need a regular adjective, or a
comparative or a superlative?
Let’s look.
It refers to the curry, and you can see that
the adjective strong is used to describe it.
The gap comes after the words strong and ____,
which suggests that you need another adjective
here.
Do you know what the adjective from spice
is?
The correct answer is spicy.
Let’s do one more example:
Unfortunately, these farmers are _____ to
sell their produce.
The stem word is LIKE.
Look at the grammatical structure of this
sentence—can you see what’s missing?
The gap is between the verb to be and the
infinitive verb with to, which means that
you need an adjective here.
How can you make an adjective from like which
fits this sentence?
Likely is an adjective, although it looks
like an adverb, and the meaning fits here:
Unfortunately, these farmers are likely to
sell their produce.
But, there’s a problem.
Can you see?
Unfortunately refers to something bad, but
farmers selling their produce is not a bad
thing!
Here’s the correct answer:
Unfortunately, these farmers are unlikely
to sell their produce.
This answer needed a negative prefix for the
sentence to make sense.
In the exam, check all of your answers and
make sure the meanings are all correct, as
well as the grammar!
Let’s move on to part four of the exam.
Part four of the FCE reading and use of English
exam has six questions and is called ‘key
word transformation'.
Let’s look at an example.
This is what your question will look like.
You’ll be given a sentence, a key word in
capital letters, and then another sentence.
The second sentence will only have the beginning
and the end, and you have to complete it.
When you complete the sentence, you need to
use between two and five words, including
the key word.
You cannot change the key word in any way.
Let’s get back to our sample question.
Do you know how to answer it?
If you’re not sure, here’s a clue: you
need to make a phrasal verb which can be used
with the word instructions.
Any ideas?
You can carry out instructions.
This has a similar meaning to follow instructions.
So, the answer to this question would be:
You must carry out the teacher’s instructions
exactly.
Now, it’s time for you to try one:
There are a few clues here to help you.
Can you think of a phrase with point that
means the same as not worth it?
What other important words are missing in
the gap?
Pause the video and try to work out the answer!
I’ll be here to tell you when you press
play again.
Got it?
The answer is:
There is no point in inviting her to the cinema.
She will never come.
There’s no point has a very similar meaning
to it’s not worth…
There’s no point in doing something is a
fixed phrase, which you need to know to answer
this question.
There’s no other way to use the word point.
There’s only one possible answer.
These questions can be worth two points, so
even if you only get half of the answer right,
you can still get one point for that.
So, even if you don’t know the full answer,
try to write something.
Now that we’ve reached the end of this video,
you should have a good understanding of the
FCE reading and use of English exam parts
one to four, and some ideas on how to prepare
yourself for it.
You can see more of our free lessons, including
FCE preparation lessons, on our website: Oxford
Online English.com.
See you next time!