B2 First Reading & Use of English Part 1
In part 1 of the 'Reading and Use of English' paper, you must fill in 8 gaps from a written passage. You have to choose one word to fill in the gap from four options (A,B,C,D).
Tips And Technique
Read the whole passage quickly. It will be easier to find the answers if you understand the topic and the overall idea.
Read the whole sentence, ignoring the gap which you have to fill. Read the sentence again and look at the four options. This part often tests your knowledge of collocations. Collocations are two or three words in English that go next to each other in a sentence. For example: 'want to'. In English we say “I want to go....” rather than “I want going....”. 'Want' is followed by 'to' in English, not 'verbing'. So, read the whole sentence then think about the words which are before and after the gap. Look at the four (A,B,C,D) options and decide which fits best with the words before and after.
Think about the meaning of the sentence. After completing points 1 and 2 above, check to make sure your word fits with the meaning of the sentence. Sometimes the words will have similar, but not exactly the same meanings.
I'm afraid the video below is for Gold members only. Become a Gold member here >>
Learn how to pass Use of English parts 2, 3 and 4, in my long FCE course here >> or my short FCE course here >>
B2 First Reading Part 5
In part 5 you have to complete 6 multiple choice questions. You have to read a text, from a novel, article etc. and you have to choose which answer (a-d) is correct for each. Many parts of this exam are not as simple as they seem. Often there are two or more answers which you think may be possible...but for a small detail, one will be (more) correct.
When preparing for this exam you should try a couple of different techniques and see which works best for you.
Tips And Technique
Some questions refer to specific details and some refer to the overall meaning of the text. Read the whole passage quickly (1-2 minutes) to get the context. This is good practice and will help you answer the non-specific questions.
Try reading the questions (ignoring the a-d options) then try to find the answer in the text. Then look at options a-d and see if one answer is more obvious. I have found this technique to be very useful with my students.
As I mention above, you may think two or more answers are possible, but one answer will always be (more) correct. Let's say both option 'a' and option 'b' seem possible. Often there will be a small detail or piece of information in 'b' which is actually not mentioned in the text. This is why you must read options a-d carefully and make sure the overall meaning and every detail of the option you choose, is found in the text.
I'm afraid the video below is for Gold members only. Become a Gold member here >>
There are more part 5 exercises in my longer FCE course >>
B2 First Reading Part 7
In part 7 you have a reading text which is divided into 4 or 5 sections (A,B,C,D/E). You have 10 questions and you must say which section (A,B,C,D/E) contains the information for each question.
Tips And Technique
Quickly read the questions. Underline the most important words in the question.
Read the whole text in a couple of minutes to have an idea what information each section contains. Write one or two words about the information contained next to each section if you find this useful.
Read the section A in more detail. Read through all the questions again. Write 'A' next to each question you think section 'A' has the answer to. Do this for each section.
If there are some questions with more than one letter, read through the relevant sections again and make a decision.
You have to become a Gold member to watch the video below. Become a Gold member here >>
There are also some useful Reading tips on this website >>
Learn more about part 7 in my long FCE course Start here >>
