+ introduction to the exam + your questions answered + exam strategies andtips + sample answer sheets teaching not just testing Certificateof Proficiency in English: Top20Questions__ 1 How many marks are needed to pass the exam? .. Topassthe examwith a grade Cyouneed around 60% of thetotalmarks. 2Do Ihave to pass each paper inorder to pass the exam1 ~NoEachpaper doesn't have a passor fall mark Thefinal grade A.B,C,D OrE isarrived atby adding the weighted marks fromallthe papers together. 3Aremarks deducted for wrong answers? .. No. If you'renot sure,make a guess.youmay be right. 4AmI allowed to use adictionary? ,..No. SInPaper 1 (Reading),Part 1 hasmore questions, so isit moreimportant? ....No. The four parts clreequally weighted. InParts 2,3 and 4,eachqUE''itionhas2 marks,whereasin Part1,each questionhas1 mark. 6InPaper 1 (Reading).howlong should I take on each question? ,..ThisISupto you.YouCilndo the tasksinany order and knOWinghow to useyourtime wellisapart of the test 7Inpaper 2(Writing),what happens ifI don't use all the given information inPart 1? ~Youwill losemarksThe examiners are lookmg for both the correct Information and good languaqe. So read the question and the Inpu1text(s)very (arefully. 8InPaper 2(Writing),what happens ifI write too many or too few words? ,..Thewordcount is givena ~a gUide only.Don't wastet ime counting.the examiners don't they are more interes.tedinyourEn9lish!11ISunli kely that veryshort answers Wi llcontain enough information or ideas10fulf ilthe task. Over-longanSWersare more hkely to be rushed andto containmIstakes .. Planyourtimesothat you wri te about thenght amOuntand havetimetocheckwhat youhave written. 9InPaper 3 (Use of English). Part 1.ifI'm not sure. can I give two alternative answers? ....No.Ifthere are two answers,and one ofthemIS wrong,no marks are givenSO,It'Sbetter to deCide which of your answers isbetter I 10In Paper 3 (Use of English). Parts1 and 4.do contractions count as one word or two? ~Two,e.g. don't = two words,do...not 11What happens if I misspellaword inPaper 3 (Use of English,? ,..YouWillnot get the mark. All spellingmust be correctin Paper3 12What happens ifI misspell aword inPaper 4 CListening).Part 27 .. Youwillnot getthemark. Checkyourspelling carefullyand don't write more thanisnecessary. The more youwrite.themore likely you are to misspell something. The answers will be familiar words that youshouldbe able to spellcorrectly 13How many times will I hear each recording in Paper 4(Listening)? .. EachtextISplayed twice. 14InPaper 4(Listening),do the questions always tollow the order of the text? .. Yes,they do.However, some questIOns WlIItestyour understanding of the whole text 15In Paper 4 (listening), Part 2.do I havet ouse the words in the recording or other words? .. Theword{s) you need10 write arethe onesyou hear on the tapeHowever. youdo haveto make surethat they fitInto the gap.both grammatically and for the meamng. 16InPaper 4(Listening), Part 2,whathappens if my answer is too long to fit on the Answer Sheet? .. Most answers areSingle words,groups of 2 -3 words or numbers. Ifyouthinkthe answerI::'longer. thenit ISprobably the wrong anSWerDont wntp morethanISneededto completethe gap 17InPaper 4 (listening), do I havet ocomplete the Answer Sheet as Ilisten? .. No.Youcanwrite the answers onthe question paperYouhave fjve minutes at theendto copy them onto t he separate Answer Sheet.Copy carefully;followthenumbering of the question' write clearly and checkyour spelling 18InPaper 5(Speaking), do I havet ogo with anothe r student? Can I choosemypartner? .. Youcannotbeexaminedalone asthe ability to discuss with another s1udentISbeingtestedInPart 2 and also Part3In some centresyoucan('hoo' your partner,in others notYou should askthe, organiser 19Isit agood idea to preparewhatyou aregoing to say inPaper 5 (Speaking), Part 11 ...It's a good Idea to practise,but don' tforget thct examiners give marks for natural commUnlCatl0nIf' EnglishIf yougivea prepareds p ~ c hwhich dl answerthe exammpr's qlJf>SlIonogapsApprox. 200 Grammatical! lexico-grf"i9 ilP"ApprO)(200 lexical Gapped sentencesSIXsetsofthreesentences Eachsentence hasone qap. lexical (e.g. collocation,The gapped wordis common phrasal verbs,Idioms,to t he three sentencesIn patterns in which lexicala set.Canrlldates must wnte Items OCwr)one wordwtllChISappropriate IIIallthreesentence each(4x2 8 marks) The summary wntl ngta ..1ccameSfourmarksfor contpnl tpnmtl rksfor"lImmary wiltIng skills (4 +10- 14marts) INT R ODUCTION ,P APER3 Number of questions 15 10 6 8 5 Total: 44 Number of marks 15* 10 12* 16* 22 Total :,,.. Howto approach the tasks Part 1 This part of the paper testsyour knowledge of grammar_ Youwill read a text withfifteengaps_Only oneword fitsInto eachgap_Thewords aremostly structure words rather thanvocabulary Items,e g preposloons,pronouns,IInkers.elc.Some wordsmay formpart of phrasalverbsor fixedexpresslons_ Readthetextfor general understanding before you do the taskTheword youWrit e must fitthe meaning of the passage asa whole. Checkthe wordsbefore and after thegap carefully. Readthe whOlesentence to be sureit makes completesenSewith your word inthe gap_ When you'vefinished.readthroughthe wholetext again to check your answers. Mak.esureyouhavespelledthe words corre010 Carppr sppmingly dt'dlcatpd to hOllourinf;jtt1t'songs 11f>grpwup ' Istt'ningto. NowaddY .. , albumsofold"'its (covpr vt>r..,ions)arpdstantlardcart't'rploy,but in1971 rE'HOspt>ctivt' dalliancp wassimplynot tht'donf'thmg dmongstrockmusicians.Npithf'rwas posingforyour slf'PVPphotoinfull pvpnlOgdrpss.likE>dpo .. h Idol fromthE'1940s. &t loospningthf'iron gripofconformistroclo(bf'hdvi ourwas prpcic:.t'1yFf'rry'spomt.cmdht'hadmort' thant'noughrnusiccllWitand Wisdomto backupthf'sf'outlandishpostures. OnAlJotherTime.Anothf'r Placf',Fprry with hisrt'volutlOnary notiOI"l that song..,from[hpprt'-rockt'racould c:.idt'by sldpWiththoseofrock giantssuchCl.,thl'RollingTht' principala9pntinthis impefious dissolutionoftimpdndgf'nrf'was Ft'rry'sinlmltablpvocalstylp,which assurIlt'dcomplptt'm, (hCIlfindingIhlllhersnip.sal C... IillI\nl USC{1.goill!!, to put lip \\ilh Ihat. hCI.:au,cI have thenalu ... t arrug.'IIKeIll'nw,,1\\rill ....nhit'h she11 11 uftedIntheclosure/closing down of' resulted In' + noun('closure')/-lng verb form ('clOSingdown') formed frommainverb('close') 35to be Onthe verge of announcing- 'onthe verge of' (meaning'aboutto' } + -ing verb form. 36don' t hold me res{XJnsiblefor Its:'hold someone responSible' (meaning'toblame someone') +'for' + possesslV('+ing verbform. 37had known he was nor/wasn' t going to be'third condi tionalindicates thatthe experienceis over and thecondition is not pOSSible;' golnQ'prompts' tobe herp'rather than'wasn't herp' 38one by one/one at Cltime inher/an.' one byone/one at a time'means'separately' +phrase'In anattempt to' 39would have liked her pro;ect to havebeenlto be: 'would heweliked' + obJed+ perfectinfinitiveor Infinitive;to expH-'')')Wishes KEV Part 5 40Have iln exclusiveappeal 41' its cumulativecharacter' 42'Thereachandscopeof what weknow, moreover, IS unmatched inhistory.' 43Wehavethe knowledgf' to developa new form of energy but we areuncertainabout its safety 44The summary shouldincludethe following pOints: It aHects everyone's hfe - Itbuilds on what IS alreadyknownto createhigher levels of knowtf'dge-- It encourages a spirit of co-operation - It createsasmany problems asIt solves Ithasbecomefraqmenled andhighly speaahsed Questions1- 25:::;1 mark QUl?Stions26---43:::;2 marks Question4414 marks Total =75 marks PAPER4Listening Part 1 1A:'Itneeds to rediscover Itself Ina way,shake off its dowdiness'_ 2B:Hilary saysmanagers'arf'n' tlisteningtotheir curators who reallyknow andlovethe exhibits know how to put anIdeaacrossand are in' touchwith the people'. 3C _ In most ofthe extract the womaniscomparing herself with the character. 4B:Shesays: 'everyone waits tor meto behave thIS way or thilt way' 5A:' I shallhaveto wartuntil hf' comesbackon Monday now beforeI cango aheadWith this agrl?ement 'indicatesanoffice environment. 6(;he womanIS frustratedbecause'youcan' t go rummagingaroundInsomeone else'sthings'. She ISnot amusedor ilnxious. 7C:Themanasks: ' Ifs not allexhilarationthen?' The journali streplies: ' ithasits moments - it Isn'talwayslilcethat' 8A:'we' re Justtryingto bring the news to the world'_ Part 2 9fire prevention:'Like allmy male colleagues, I am increaSinglyinvolved inareaslike tiff' prevention' 10false alarms:' It'SJusta result of onf' of the many falsealarms weget' 11(vast)warehouse. ' It Ina vastwarehouse Ina factory areainthe oufskirts of London: 12revolving platform'Iended up goinq up on a revolv,ng platform' 13de-briefing (sessIon) :'We usually sit arounc1 afterwards andhave what's called a debnefing session' 14confined space: ' I may be one of thefirstthf'Y approachifthere wasa confined spacethat somebody had to crawl through' , 15stamina:"they also teslyour aerobicfitness .md yourstamina' 16heIght #mit:'there was anunrealisticheight limit imposed', 11glamorous:' It'S ademanding, but worthwhile Job whIChIsn'tthat glamorous actually' Part 3 18(: 'althoughtheseeventstake place ona regular baSIS,they're reallynot scheduledin t he westernsense' 19A:'Butthe approachthat Bob andI take isto adopt the pace of Africa. we invest In makingfriendships, only gr,adually do we start v.urklngwiththem.' 200'we carryrudiment,ary supplies' 11C'over twenty years,we'vebeenvisiting certain groups of people very regularly and eventually wefeltablE>toasIcif we could attend aclosed ceremony,, thesethings take patience: 2213:'Our projectis all about explaining,In a very sympathetic and comprehensive way,extremely importanttraditionsthathave realmeamng for the people involved.' f art4 BB:stress In 'Just afew othe-r songs', indicates that a lot of her songs don't get recorded, Paul supports that With'most bite the dustlongbefore t hat' 24B:Both agreethatthey do their work' for a living' . 25P:Paulreferstothe 'odd occasion'when he can't write,whereas Cathysays: 'I 'd love to have that scale of problem. I can be prolificfor six months, ninemonths,andthen. . I'm Into a creallvevoid' 26p.Paulsays he allows a couple of hours, thenhe says:'After lhat I can' t seethe point.'C.3thy.on the other hand,refersto severalsongs which wouldn't eXist'ifI'd stuck bythatprinciple' . 27B'Cathy was surprisedby the success of'Hugme' , Paul sayshe h.3d.3similar experience with 'Catchme falling' . 28CPaulsays thathe can'just pick up aguitar and do It' . Calhy says'I' ll have to tl)'that', indicatingthal sheneeds to have anideafirst. Questions 128=1 mark Total score=28 marks Test 4 PAPER1Reading Part 1 Happy Landings 1A:Correct verb In phrasalverb'touchdown' meaning'to land' ZC:Ollly nounthat forms compound nounWith 'flight 'to Indic,atedirect ion. 1C:Carred noun that tilkes'to' . 4B:Correcl conjunctIon + -Ing verb form. 5D:Correctnoun inphrase'fieldof vision' 6B:Correct verb with'close to'. The Death of Languages 7D:Correct verb In phr.35e'play a part' 8B.Verb wit h correctmeaningof'to speedup' followed by direct Object. 9A:CorrectnOunIn phrase'in favour of . 10- 0:Onlyadjectivethat collocates With'culture' 11B:Adjeclive with correctmeaning of 'thatcannot be regainedonce losr , 12C:Verb with correctmeaningof 'to maintain' Old Friends 1313:(orrecl verb Ihat takes object +'i n'+ -Ing verb form. 140 :Correctadverb Inphrase' regardless of'meamng 'despite' 1SA:Adverb Withcorrectmeaning ofcarefully. attentionto detail' 16CCorrectverb inphrasal verb'go throuQh' meaning' to experience' 17B:Only verb wtth correctmE'.:JmngInthiS context 180 :Verbmeanmg' to be Important' . Part 2 The Thinking Person'sHotel 19A:Thewriter has specificpersonalexpenence'01 philosophers bul t he implicationis thatIda Jongsmais different:'cutting acrosstype'. 20C- T d certainly rebook onthe strength of thE>latf'-night conversationalone' Extract froman autobiography 210 :He refers toflats in London as'the drawers In the humanfilillg cabinetsthat stand Inblank rows' 22CHe is hypocnfcal because he has a negative atti t udetowardLondon and yelcontinuesto livethere. Hittongue 1 Paul: Well,don' t yours? Cathy: I'lI llave totrytllatThere might be a whole new worldofsongs outtherE'waiting to be written Paul:Well.that'sfhe thinQabout songwrifinQNo matter Ilow many songs people come up With,there ., always another one Test4 Part1 Youwllf hearfour drfferent extractsFor questIOnsJ8 choosethe anSwer (A,B or C)whichfitsbest accordmg to what youhear.Therearetwo questIonsforeach extract Extract One AchieVingmoderaterenownIShardlytile stuHfOCIvpnyeil rs,gai ning an enthusiastICnICheaudiE' ncpnthe TAPESCR I I'TS process_Theystarted out asstandardbearers of undergroundrock in theUSA,theirsongsa slyblend of fuzzy gUitar expenmentalism.ellipticalrhythms.esoteric lYrics and melodies that qrew progressively sweeter asthe bandevolved Theirfarewellconcert took place Ina sUitably mlddling-SiZedvenueat the end of last year_Apairof handcuffs dangledfromthe microphone standsymbol, claimed StJ1gerMM, of what itwas Ill