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Practice tests for Cambridge English First (FCE) Reading and Use of English

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This is the exam skills section from the BBC Learning English site. It's not specific to FCE (or any other exam) but rather looks at ways that learners can develop the necessary exam skills for success. Worth exploring for both teachers and learners.

Gives an overview of the structure and focus of the exam, plus links to "Lesson Downloads" for Reading & Use of English papers and links to a more detailed overview and practice tasks for the listening and speaking sections.

The official website for FCE, this provides all the information concerning the organisation and structure of the exam, what the "set books" are, where you can take the exam, when you can take the exam, links to downloadable sample papers and more. It should be the first stop for anyone teaching an FCE preparation class.

And this should probably be the second stop... This is the teacher support site for Cambridge ESOL exams. There's a lot of stuff available, but to get access to everything requires a (free) email registration. All of the information on the exams and free downloads from the Cambridge FCE portal is available here, plus additional lesson plans and activity ideas contributed both by Cambridge ESOL and by the teaching community members, who also populate the discussion forums.

"Stuff related to Cambridge, TOEFL, IELTS, etc exams" - A collection of blog posts and web pages related to International English Exams, curated by Chiew Pang. Lots of useful links and ideas, though not only specific to FCE as it also covers other major players in the ELT exams market.

This teacher support page from Cambridge University Press offers a number of pdf and mp3 downloads and some flash games, but these support their existing publication range at FCE.

Has five free online practice tasks for each Use of English component, plus some vocabulary and grammar exercises and some extensive irregular verb practice tasks.

Uses xtranormal to create a number of guides to FCE speaking. An excellent idea well worth exploiting with your classes.

This site contains two online practice tests. However, it's based on the pre-2008 version of the exam, so not all sections are relevant and not all components are available (e.g. missing writing & listening sections).

Has an overview of the exam structure and components, plus a set of free online practice tasks for reading, use of English and listening. There's also an interesting "complete the text" task in the writing section, where learners recreate a text by typing in random words. Obviously they'll have more success with function words initially, so it's a nice grammaring task. Not sure how useful it is for developing writing skills though.

It is what is says it is - a blog about teaching FCE. Lots of interesting ideas, though these seem to have tailed off a bit lately (i.e. no new posts for a while). Definitely worth a look for some interesting FCE teaching ideas.

Billed as "First Certificate help and exam practice from authentic texts" - this is (I think) a class blog? There are lots of exam practice type activities (my favourite is the " what happened was " listening). Even if you don't feel the tasks are quite suitable for exam practice, they could serve as inspiration for your own class blog? Plus there's lots of additional links.

An ongoing FCE blog (not sure if teacher or class based) with a range of ideas an resources for teaching FCE classes.

(Update May 2012 - this now appears to be defunct. I'm going to keep it here just in case it reappears & will update as necessary.)

Aimed primarily at learners rather than teachers, this blog appears to have a wealth of advice and information for people preparing for the FCE. More based on test strategy than test practice, framed in "knowledge tests" and "learning nuggets". Thanks to Jim George for the spot.

A French based website - this is only one post related to writing reports for FCE.

Flo-Joe is the place to send learners for self-study / computer room based lessons at FCE. An impressive range of online exam practice activities, mainly focused on reading and use of English. Parts of the site are registration and fee-based.

"A collection of links, articles and hints for students preparing for FCE, CAE or CPE." - A continually updated collation of Cambridge exam related posts from different blogs and websites, curated by Henrik Oprea. Lots of nice ideas and useful links - but not only specific to FCE, as it also covers other Cambridge exams.

IH Bristol have put the equivalent of 10 (yes, ten!) FCE Use of English papers online. As well as other grammar and vocabulary development tasks - but for FCE Use of English practice? Go here. sadly, there's no focus on any of the other aspects of the exam though.

This is the additional practice test site associated with Pearson / Longman ELT publishing. It's offered as an additional resource for teachers and students who're already using their course books. I believe (though I'm not sure) that purchase of a Pearson FCE title also gives you login / free registration details to the i-tests site. But while there's also some free stuff available, a lot of the content is paid for.

"Worldwide exams of English language skills. Tips, updates, practice." - A continually updated collation of ESOL exam related posts from different blogs and websites, curated by Jim George. Lots of nice ideas and useful links - but not only specific to FCE, as it also covers other Cambridge exams.

This bilingual Spanish/English page contains practice activities for FCE students including 10 different listening tasks, a range of grammar practice activities and some Use of English exam practice activities (some elements pre-date 2008 specifications). Quite advert heavy, so be careful what you click.

Formerly part of the Macmillan ELT publishing stable, onestopenglish has struck out on its own. As a result of this, part of their content is only available to registered, paid up, subscribers. Some -but not all. The practice activities are premium content, but teaching tips for FCE by Alex Case are free, as are the use of English tips and exercises.

A publisher based support site, this link gives access to yet more links related to the wealth of FCE (and other) publications within the Oxford University Press catalogue. If you teach with an OUP title, you should probably check this page out, though as the resources are mostly tests and answer keys, it's not so useful if you don't.

A publisher based support site that also crosses over into trying to create an exam teachers' community - the Pearson site has a limited range of useful downloads, including a sample video of the speaking test (featuring Jackie Newbrook as examiner!) - handy if you can't afford the Cambridge ESOL DVD... More resources are apparently available to those who register.

Sandy Millin is a highly experienced ELT exams teacher - this link connects to an FCE based search of her blog, which throws up all of her great ideas for teaching FCE classes. Definitely worth checking out if you teach FCE.

Organised by FCE paper, Sandy's collated a lot of FCE related links and categorised them by exam component. Another great resource to check out if you're looking for exam support.

A link to the lesson plans etc I've made available for FCE classes.

All the links were all working the last time I checked, but do please leave a comment if any are broken.

Equally, if you think something should be added to the directory, please let me know!

Finally, thanks to the BC facebook page, which back in October 2011, prompted me to start collecting together this information.

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Resources and links for teachers of FCE preparation classes. BBC Exam Skills: This is the exam skills section from the BBC Learning English site. It's not specific to FCE (or any other exam) but rather looks at ways that learners can develop the necessary exam skills for success.

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Has good tips on what to look for with examples

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3. The Text is Full of Clues

Like in a good Agatha Christie book, there are lots of clues to the right answer.

What sort of clues are in a text?

Names and pronouns (Jack... he... this...)

Chronology (Then... Finally...)

Quotation marks ("I couldn't believe it.")

Contrast words (However, but)

Verb tenses (had gone... will have finished)

Cause and effect (Therefore... as a result...)

Repetition (in other words...)

Let's look at each clue type in more detail.

NAMES AND PRONOUNS 1

Once upon a time there was a boy named Jack. [1] __________________________. Then he died.

Choose one of these sentences to go in gap [1]:

A - He ate all the chocolate in London.

B - Their house was on a hill.

That's pretty easy, isn't it? Jack is a 'he', not a 'their'. There's also a logical connection between eating all the chocolate and dying.

NAMES AND PRONOUNS 2

The documentary featured interviews with many of top scientists. [2] __________________________. But the story was not funny, and many viewers complained about its depressing ending.

A - It was watched by 8 million people.

B - One was Simon Baron-Cohen, brother of the famous comedian.

This one is hard. A could be the answer because 'it' means 'the documentary'. But B could be the answer because 'one' refers to 'top scientists'. But it is still useful to look at names and pronouns because in the exam you will have 7 answers to choose from.

So in this example what do we do next? The three sentences must fit together like a lock fits a keyhole.

The clue is in the relationship between the words but, funny, and comedian. Those three words fit together perfectly.

The word 'but' is a good example of a contrasting phrase, which brings us to...

CONTRASTING PHRASES

We've seen an example of 'but'. Here's another one:

At first, the show was not popular. [3] __________________________.

A - However, in 2014 more people watched it every week and it ended the year as the number 1 show in America.
B - In 2014 more people watched it every week and it ended the year as the number 1 show in America.

Which do you think is a better story?

Answer A gives a nice contrast. At first the show was not popular but later it WAS popular. The word 'however' introduces the change from negative to positive.

TIME PHRASES

In the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood, actors and actresses were tied to one-sided contracts. [4] __________________________.

A - These days, however, they are free to choose projects that interest them.
B - More movies are now made in India than in Los Angeles.

'The golden age' is a time period in the past which contrasts with 'these days'. Basically it means 'in the past... but now...'

Sentence B might be true, but has nothing to do with this story.

Quotation Marks

Sometimes the gap will be in speech marks ("") - that makes it pretty easy to find the answer. Which of the sentences sounds like it was said by a person? If there is a text written in a neutral tone and one of the answers has the word 'I' then that must be in quotation marks.

But there was more to his performance than scoring the winning goal. He also motivated his younger teammates. '[5]_____________________.'

A - He had become a true leader.
B - I felt like I was on top of the world.

See? It can only be B.

And the Other clues?

There are more tips that I could give you about this section, and maybe I will in a video. But the best advice is for you to practice this exercise and learn how the answers are chosen.

You and a friend could take a text each, remove some sentences, and test each other. Once you've tried to put the sentences back, you could discuss whether those were the same sentences that Cambridge would remove from the text.

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Everything you ever wanted to know about parts 6 and 7 of the Cambridge B2 First Reading and Use of English exam (gapped text and multiple matching).

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Developed by the University of Cambridge, Write & Improve is a FREE tool that helps every learner to improve their English writing.

Choose from hundreds of tasks at all levels and start writing, or create your own tasks

Submit your writing and get a result linked to the international standard, the CEFR

Get automatic feedback on where your writing may need improvement

Make changes and check again to improve your writing

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Write & Improve is a free service for learners of English to practise their written English. Submit your written work and receive feedback in seconds, covering spelling, vocabulary, grammar and general style.

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Questions

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Wordwall - Create better lessons quicker

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Is there anything you would like to learn about your country?, Which area of your country would you like to get to know better?, What's the most interesting place you've visited near ....?, Could you tell me something about the area where you grew up?, Could you describe your family home to me?, Are you interested in sport?, Is there a sport you'd really like to try?, What sports do people play most in your country?, How much exercise do you take each week?, Do you like to be physically active or do you prefer relaxing?, How much TV do you watch in a week?, Tell us about a TV programme you've seen recently?, Do you have a favourite newspaper or magazine?, What do you spend your time doing?, Do you enjoy reading?, What sort of books do you read?, Does anyone you know have an interesting hobby?, What's the difference between reading the news in the newspaper and watching it on TV?, Who do you spend your free time with?, Do you prefer to be outside or inside when you have free time?, Do you find it easy to study where you live?, Do you use the internet to learn new things?, Do you prefer working on your own or with other people?, What kind of work would you really like to do in the future?, Are you happier doing mental or physical work?, Can you remember your first English lessons?, What do you think were the most important things you learned at primary school?, Would you prefer to work for a big or small company?, Who do you spend your free time with?, Who are the most important people in your life?, Do you and your friends share the same ideas?, Tell me about your best friend., Tell me about your best friend?, Do you normally go out with family or friends?, Have you ever used your English on holiday?, Have you ever used your English on holiday?, Where would you really like to go on holiday in the future?, Do you like to plan your holidays carefully or do you prefer to just go?, How do you prefer to travel? by train or by plane?, What's public transport like in your country?, Do you ever go to concerts?, Where do you like listening to music?, Do you like going to the cinema?, Do you enjoy playing computer games?, Do you enjoy shopping?, Do you like going to parties?, How much time do you spend at home?, Tell us about a day you've really enjoyed recently?, Do you like cooking?, Are you planning to do anything special this weekend?.

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Is there anything you would like to learn about your country?, Which area of your country would you like to get to know better?, What's the most interesting place you've visited near ....?, Could you tell me something about the area where you grew up?, Could you describe your family

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Useful expressions

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Wordwall - Create better lessons quicker

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Starting a discussion: Why don't we start with...?, Shall we ... first?, Let's begin with ... , (shall we?), We could start by talking about..., Involving the other person: What do you think about... ?, Do you agree with that?, What would you say?, Interrupting: Can I just say... ?, Sorry to interrupt, but..., Adding an opinion: Apart from that..., And there's another thing..., Not only that..., Bringing the discussion to an end: So let's decide which..., Shall we make a decision?, Anyway, we have to decide..., Giving opinions: The most important factor for me is..., Personally, I would say that..., I'm not really very interested in..., It's very hard to say, but..., If I had to choose ... , I would ...,

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FCE Speaking Part 3 - Useful Expressions

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Starting a discussion: Why don't we start with...?, Shall we ... first?, Let's begin with ... , (shall we?), We could start by talking about..., Involving the other person: What do you think about... ?, Do you agree with that?, What would you say?, Interrupting: Can I just say...

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Cambridge University Press & Cambridge English Language Assessment - Cambridge English Advanced 2

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Cambridge University Press & Cambridge English Language Assessment

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Cambridge University Press & Cambridge English Language Assessment - Cambridge English Advanced 2

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Cambridge University Press & Cambridge English Language Assessment

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B2 First preparation | Cambridge English

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Prepare for the B2 First (FCE) exam with sample papers, online practice tests, games, and video tips for your exam day. Computer and paper-based practice.

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Focus on reporting verbs

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Wordwall - Create better lessons quicker

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Key word formation - FCE (reporting verbs)

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Teaching resource | 'What do you think of the college?' she asked me. She .... of the colledge. (ASKED).

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You can find links to whole lesson plans for each part of the exam here.

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Resources for English teachers | Cambridge English

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Find a wide range of free Cambridge English resources to develop your teaching, including lesson plans, sample papers, handbooks and teacher guides.

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Learn English with our free online listening, grammar, vocabulary and reading activities. Practise your English and get ready for your Cambridge English exam.