Overview
Part 1 is a text with eight gaps. You must read four options and decide which word best fits each gap.
C1 Advanced Reading and Use of English
How to Prepare
Read the text quickly to get the main idea.
Look at each gap and the choices. Read the text before and after the gap.
Choose the best word for each gap.
Read the completed text to check it makes sense.
Extra Tips
Cover the questions when you first read the text so that you don't get distracted.
Identify which part of speech belongs in the gap. Is it a noun, adjective, verb, etc.?
Look for other clues before and after the gap. Is it a collocation or a set phrase? Is there a preposition?
Overview
Part 2 is a text with eight gaps. You must write one word to fill each gap. Unlike part 1, you have no options to choose from.
How to Prepare
Read the text quickly to get the main idea.
Look at each gap and read the text before and after each.
Write the best word for each gap.
Read the completed text to check it makes sense.
Extra Tips
Identify which type of word belongs in the gap. It could be a preposition, article, auxiliary, modal, pronoun, etc.
Is it a phrasal verb? You may need to write a particle or verb to complete it, e.g. set off.
Have you conjugated any verbs correctly? Check the subject and tense.
Check your spelling. Incorrectly spelled words are not accepted.
Overview
Part 3 is a text with eight gaps. At the end of the line there is a stem word in the margin. You must form an appropriate word from the stem word. Remember you must change the stem word. You may need to add a prefix and/or suffix.
How to Prepare
Read the text quickly to get the main idea.
Look at the text before and after each gap.
Identify the part of speech (noun, adjective, verb, etc.).
Modify the stem word so that it fits in the gap, e.g. action > active.
Read the completed text to check it makes sense.
Extra Tips
You must change the stem word. The answer is never the word provided.
This part tests your knowledge of word families, suffixes, and prefixes.
Does the word need to be negative? Read the whole sentence to check.
Remember your prefixes! Negative prefixes are often missed, but you may need a less common one like over-, under-, re-, mis-, etc.
Overview
Part 4 has six questions. Each question has a sentence to rephrase, a key word, and another sentence with a gap in the middle. You must complete the sentence with 3-6 words including the key word so that it has the closest possible meaning to the original.
How to Prepare
Read the two sentences. Underline the matching information in each sentence.
Use your underlining to identify the information that is missing from the gap.
Fill the gap with between three and six words, including the key word.
Check that the new sentence has the exact same meaning as the original.
Extra Tips
In Use of English part 3 you must change the word, but in part 4 you cannot change it at all.
There are two marks available for each gap, so even if you are only partially correct you have the chance to earn marks.
Make sure your tenses match - if the first sentence is in the present, the second should be as well!
Avoid contractions. These count as two separate words, e.g. didn't = did not. The only exception is 'cannot' which is one word.
Be as loyal to the meaning of the original sentence as possible. No information should be left out in your transformation.
Overview
Part 5 is a long text with 6 multiple choice questions. There are 4 options for each question.
How to Prepare
Read the title. Then quickly skim read the text for general meaning.
Read the questions. Highlight the key words. Don't worry about the options.
Go back to the main text and highlight where you find the answers to the questions.
Use your highlighting to answer the question and select the correct option.
Extra Tips
The options can be distracting when you first read the text. Cover them with your hand or paper.
If you have time identify which options are wrong to confirm your answer.
If the text uses the exact same wording as one of the options it is probably a distractor.
Overview
In part 6 you will read 4 short texts on the same topic by different writers. There are 4 questions about their opinions, feelings, and attitudes which require you to identify areas of agreement and disagreement.
How to Prepare
Quickly read the question, title and subtitle to identify the theme of the text.
Read the four questions and underline the key words.
Find the section of the text referred to in the question. Do you understand the opinion of the writer?
Find the text which has a similar or different opinion to the writer, as referred to in the questions.
Extra Tips
One question may ask you to find the 'odd one out.' Find each writer's opinion on this specific issue and select the text that is different.
Overview
Part 7 is a long, non-fiction text which has had 6 paragraphs removed. These 6 paragraphs, plus a 7th paragraph are given to you in a mixed order. You must read the paragraphs and the text and decide which paragraph goes in each gap.
How to Prepare
Quickly read the whole text. Then read all the paragraphs.
Study the text before and after each gap. Look for clues that help you choose the required paragraph.
If you have time, quickly read the completed text to confirm it makes sense.
Extra Tips
Write a short 2-4 word summary next to each paragraph.
There is a lot of information in the main text to help you choose the correct paragraph: look for times, dates, names of people and organisations, and their pronouns.
Focus on the tenses. These will usually connect and allow you to form a sequence of events.
Are there any contrasting arguments or related sentences on cause and effect?
Pronouns are a big help: Look for and underline words like this, those, it, then, there and find what they refer to.
Overview
Part 8 is one page of text. This may be continuous text, broken into sections or consist of several short texts on the same topic. There are 10 questions which ask you to identify information from the different sections of the text.
How to Prepare
Read the 10 sentences and underline the key words.
Quickly read the texts and underline the key words and ideas you remember from the sentences.
Now read each text in more detail. For each question find the section which has the same idea as the sentence.
If you have two options make a note, then try to make a decision later if you have time.
Extra Tips
Do not leave any question blank. If you guess you have a 25% chance of getting the correct answer.
This question tests your ability to find specific information quickly. To prepare you should practise scanning and skimming texts.
If you find the exact same words from the sentence you should underline them, but be aware that is likely a distractor.