Use of englishExam techniques

Paper/Timing Test content No. Of Qs

1Reading and Use of English1 hr 15 mins

Part 1. Multiple choice clozePart 1. Multiple choice cloze

Part 2. Open clozePart 2. Open cloze

Part 3. Word formationPart 3. Word formation

Part 4. Key word transformationPart 4. Key word transformation

Part 5. Multiple choice

Part 6. Gapped text

Part 7. Multiple matching

52

Task type Multiple choice-cloze

Focus Vocabulary, e.g. idioms, collocations, fixed phrases, complementation, phrasal verbs, semantic precision.

Format A modified cloze test containing eight gaps.There are 4-option multiple-choice items foreach gap.

No of Qs 8

Read the whole text for general understanding. Don’t look at the four choices yet.

Read the text again and try to fill each space as you come to it. Study the four choices, A, B, C and D and the words on either side of the space.

Try to eliminate three of the four choices. There may be a gramatical reason why choices area impossible.

If you are not sure, make a sensible guess. Don’t leave any spaces empty.

Task type Open cloze

Focus Awareness and control of grammar with some focus on vocabulary.

Format A modified cloze test containing eight gaps

No. Of Qs 8

Read the text quickly for a general idea of the topic.

Read the text again. Use the words on either side of the space to help you decide what kind of word is missing, e.g. preposition, pronoun, conjuction. Write in any words you are confident about.

Read the text again, filling in the remaining gaps.

If you are not sure, make a sensible guess. Don’t leave any spaces empty.

Task type Word formation

Focus Vocabulary, in particular the use of affixation, internal changes and compounding in word formation.

Format A text containing eight gaps. Each gap corresponds to a word. The stem of the missing word is given beside the text and must be changed to form the missing word.

No of Qs 8

Read the text quickly to get a general idea of the topic.

Read the text again, using the words on either side of the space to help you decide what kind of word is missing, e.g. noun, verb, adjective.

Change the word in block capitals into the word you need by adding a prefix or suffix, or by making some other change. For example, if the missing word is a noun, think of typical noun endings and choose the one that sounds best. Remember some words may be negative.

Read the completed text to check it makes sense.

If you are not sure, make a sensible guess. Don’t leave any spaces empty.

Task type Grammar, vocabulary, collocation.

Focus Grammar, vocabulary, collocation.

Format Six separate items, each with a lead-insentence and a gapped second sentence to becompleted in two to five words, one of whichis a given ‘key’ word.

No. Of Qs 6

For each sentence you have to rewrite, read the first sentence and the gapped sentence.

Think carefully about how the key word can be used grammatically in the gapped sentence. Think, for example, about whether it needs a dependent preposition, whether you need to change the form of another word, or whether the second sentence should be active or passive.

Comple each sentence using between two and five words. Don’t change the key word.