Use of englishExam techniques

Paper/Timing Test content No. Of Qs

1Reading and Use of English1 hr 15 mins

Part 1. Multiple choice cloze

Part 2. Open cloze

Part 3. Word formation

Part 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

Skill Candidates are required to draw on their lexical knowledge andunderstanding of the text in order to fill the gaps.

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 The focus of the gapped words is either grammatical, such as articles, auxiliaries, prepositions, pronouns, verb tenses and forms, or lexicogrammatical, such as phrasal verbs, linkers and words within fixed phrases.

Format A modified cloze test containing eight gaps

No. Of Qs 8

Skill Candidates are required to draw on their knowledge ofthe structure of the language and understanding of the text in order to fill the gaps.

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 It tests the candidates’ knowledge of how prefixes, suffixes, internal changes and compounds are used in forming words.

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

Skill Candidates may be required to demonstrate understanding of the text beyond sentence level.

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.

Paraphrasing techniques:

I. SynonymsII. AntonymsIII. Phrasal VerbsIV. General VerbsV. Phrases

Each paraphrase must be accurate i.e. same tenses and meaning.

Original: This shirt is too big for her. -> She was too big for the shirt.

Both the meaning and tenses have changed in the example.

II. Each paraphrase has to have more than one change. For example:

Original: This shirt is too big for her. -> This shirt is too large for her ->This blouse is too big for her. -> This shirt is excessively big for her.None of these are good paraphrases.

A paparazzi has just taken a picture of Madonna eating dog food with Lady Gaga.

One possible answerMadonna and Lady Gaga have been pictured together (by a shutterbug) eating dog food.

Task type Grammar, vocabulary, collocation.

Focus The focus is both lexical and grammatical and a range of structures is tested.

Format Six separate items, each with a lead-in sentence and a gapped second sentence to be completed in two to five words, one of which is a given ‘key’ word.

No. Of Qs 6

Skill The ability to express a message in a different way shows flexibility and resource in the use of language.

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.