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A2 Key (KET) Listening

The five parts of the A2 Key Listening Section explained

There are five parts in the listening section of the Cambridge English A2 Key exam. You will have 30 minutes to complete this section. In each part, you must read and listen to some instructions, listen to the recording(s), and answer the questions. You will hear each recording twice. Here is a description of each part:

Part 1: Five short dialogues with five multiple-choice questions with pictures.
There is one question for each conversation. In each question, there are three pictures. You must choose the correct picture.

Part 2: Monologue with fill-in gaps.
There is an announcement or short speech. Only one person speaks. You must fill in five gaps with some missing information. One word or one number goes in each gap.

Part 3: One longer conversation with five multiple-choice questions.
There are three options for each question. You must choose the correct option.

Part 4: Five short dialogues or monologues with five multiple-choice questions.
There is one question for each dialogue or monologue. There are three choices for each question. It's similar to part one but without pictures.

Part 5: One longer conversation with five matching questions.
There are five questions and eight different options. You must match each question to one of the options.

How to prepare for the exam

Listen to some English regularly

If you listen to ten minutes a day of English over a long time, you will see that understanding spoken English becomes easier and more automatic.

Use the right resources

Choose listening materials that are right for your level and -very importantly- that you like. For example, if your level is A2, you can search for A2-level resources: audiobooks, student's book audio tracks, songs, YouTube videos, etc.

Read and listen, and listen

There are lots of resources where you have written text and audio. If you find understanding English very difficult, read and listen to a text at the same time, work on the vocabulary, and when you understand everything, then listen again but this time without the written text. This will help you learn to recognize English sounds, use context to guess the meaning of new words and expand your vocabulary.

Test your listening

Before taking the exam, practice exam tasks with our listening tests for some time. You will become more confident and will have better strategies when answering multiple-choice and gap-filling questions.

During the exam

Read the instructions and questions carefully

Use all the time you have to read the instructions and questions carefully. Make sure you understand the questions because they will tell you what the recording is about.

Don't get nervous

Being calm is very important in a listening test. Some students panic because they think they don't understand anything, and their stress makes the situation much more difficult.

Don't worry; nobody in a listening exam understands everything. You don't need to understand everything to answer the questions correctly. As you will see in my next tip, you may guess the correct answer only with a few words.

Be careful about the distractors

Most of the questions in the listening section are multiple-choice. You may hear that they mention more than one option in the recording, but you must pay close attention because only one option is correct; the other options are distractors. For example, check the following question:

Transcription: "We wanted to take a taxi, but we couldn't find one, and the underground was closed, so we finally took the bus."

Question: How did they go back home?

As you can see in the example, they mention the three options in the recording, but only one is correct. You should pay attention and try to guess which options are distractors. Of course, you will not understand everything from the recording, but just with a few words, you can know which option is correct. Take a look:

Underground: if you can understand the words "underground" and "closed", that's enough. You know that this option is not correct.

Bus: if you can understand the words "finally" and "bus" in the recording, that should make you think that this is probably the correct option.

Taxi: If you hear "taxi" and then you hear "but", it probably means that they didn't take a taxi.

If you practice exam tasks before the exam, you will learn to distinguish the correct answer from the distractors.

Answer all the questions

Don't leave any questions blank. If you don't know which option is correct, answer the question anyway. Your answer may be right.

In Part 2 of the listening, don't worry about the spelling. If you don't know how to spell a word, write it the way it sounds.

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A2 Key - Exam 1 - Listening - Test-English

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Get ready for the Cambridge A2 Key exam with our example tests. You will find a complete exam, plus lots of useful tips and information.

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Cambridge A2 Key Reading and Writing

There are seven parts in the reading and writing section of the Cambridge English A2 Key exam. You will have 60 minutes to complete this section. Parts 1 to 5 focus on your reading skills. You should complete this part of the exam in around 40 minutes. Parts 6 and 7 will assess your writing skills. Here is a description of each part:

Reading Part 1: Read six short real-world texts with multiple-choice questions.
There are six short texts like text messages, notices, signs, ads, etc. and one question with three choices for each text. This part has a maximum of 6 marks.

Reading Part 2: Three short texts and seven matching questions.
There are three short texts and seven questions. You must match each question to one of the texts. This part has a maximum of 7 marks.

Reading Part 3: One long text with five multiple-choice questions.
There are three choices for each question. This part has a maximum of 5 marks.

Reading Part 4: One short text with six multiple-choice questions.
There is a factual text and six vocabulary questions with three options each. You must choose the correct word for each gap.This part has a maximum of 6 marks.

Reading Part 5: A short email (and sometimes the email reply too) with six gaps.
You must fill in each gap with one word. This part tests vocabulary and grammar. The words you need to use for the gaps are vocabulary and grammar words. This part has a maximum of 6 marks.

Writing Part 6: Write a short email or note of 25 words or more.
You need to write an email using some information or ideas that you can see in the question instructions. This part has a maximum of 15 marks.

Writing Part 7: Write a short story of 35 words or more based on three pictures.
There are three pictures and you need to write a story using those pictures as inspiration. The story should be around 35 words. This part has a maximum of 15 marks.

General Tips for the Reading part of the A2 Key

Understand the format of the exam

Familiarize yourself with the types of questions, number of questions and time limit for each section of the test. Practise using exam samples like the ones provided on our website or other published materials.

Get regular reading practice

Practice reading a variety of materials, such as online articles, fiction and non-fiction books to enhance your comprehension and speed. It's important that you find materials that are appropriate for your level. You should be able to understand most of the words in the texts you read.

Work on your vocabulary

Learn new words and expressions regularly, and practice using them in context.

Use past papers

Use previous years' papers to practise and get a feel for the types of questions you can expect in the exam.

Underline and analyse the keywords

The first thing you need to do when reading a text is to read the questions and underline the most important words. Then, analyse those words and decide which are the correct answer.

General Tips for the Writing part of the A2 Key

Practice writing essays

Familiarize yourself with the types of writing tasks required in the exam, such as an informal email or a story.

Get feedback

Ask someone to check your writing and give you constructive feedback, this can help you identify areas for improvement.

Prepare a plan for the writing task

Before writing your essay, you should consider the information you want to include and how to organise it. Think about the structure and content of your writing before you start, and make sure to stick to the word limit.

Learn to manage your time

Make sure you allocate enough time to read and understand the task and to plan and write your answer, leaving time to review and edit your work. Practise writing some compositions and time yourself to make sure you can finish the tasks within the time limits.

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A2 Key - Exam 1 - Reading and Writing - Test-English

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Get ready for the Cambridge A2 Key exam with our example tests. You will find a complete exam, plus lots of useful tips and information.

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Contrast

However

However means 'but'.

However is normally used at the beginning of a sentence, before a comma (,) and after a full stop (.) or a semicolon (;).

Although

Although means 'despite the fact that', or 'but'.

Although can be used at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. We do NOT use a comma after although; we use although + subject + verb.

Reason

Because

We use because + subject + verb.

Because of

We use because of + noun.

Result

So

So is the most common connector to express result. It is normally used in the middle of a sentence after (,).

Time

Before

We can use before + noun / -ing verb, or we can use before + subject + verb.

After

We use can use after + noun / -ing verb, or we can use after + subject + verb.

When we are talking about consecutive actions, we can use then of after that, but we cannot use *after.

I got up and had a shower. Then/After that, I made breakfast. (NOT After, I made breakfast).

While

We use while + subject + verb to talk about actions happening at the same time, simultaneously.

As soon as, when, once

As soon as, when, and once have a similar meaning. As soon as means 'immediately when'.

We use the present simple, and NOT will, to express future after as soon as, when, and once.

We use a comma after the first part of the sentence when we start with before, after, while, as soon as, etc. But we do not use a comma if we use before, after, while, as soon as, etc in the second part of the sentence.

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However, although, because, so, and time connectors - Test-English

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Connectors of contrast, reason, result and time. However, although, because, so, when, while, after, before, etc. Pre-intermediate grammar and exercises.

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Writing and Responding to an Informal Email Invitation

Examples

Hi Craig,
I'm just writing to let you know that Tony and I are going to South Wales for the weekend on the 21st and 22nd July. We're going to camp at a campsite and go hiking, and we might go mountain biking too. Would you like to join us? I know you love the outdoors! If so, do you want a lift in the car? Hope you can come!

Jen

Hey Jen,
Thanks for the offer! Yes, I'm free that weekend and I'd love to join you. Why don't we take our surfboards? It's a great place to surf. Actually, I'm on holiday the week after and I might stay in Wales for a few more days, so I will take my own car. I'll bring my barbecue too!
I look forward to it!

Best wishes

Craig

➪ Useful phrases to open and close informal emails.

➪ Phrases to talk about future plans.

➪ Useful phrases for making an invitation, offer or suggestion.

➪ Useful phrases for accepting invitations, offers or suggestions.

How to start and end an informal email

We open and close emails to friends in an informal way.

You can use these phrases to open your email:

Close your email in an informal way too. Here are some phrases:

These phrases are also useful in an informal email:

I'm just writing to let you know that...

I just wanted to tell you that...

Talking about your future plans

To tell someone about plans you already made with someone else, use the present continuous or 'going to' future.

Use present continuous for plans that you have booked or arranged:

Use be going to for plans that don't require a booking:

Use might for possible plans.

Use the present simple to describe your schedule, for example, the events on your calendar.

Use will for offers and ideas for the future that you just had a moment ago.

Making invitations and offers

You can use these phrases to make invitations and offers:

Would you like (+ noun or + to + verb infinitive)

Do you want (+ noun or + to + verb infinitive)

Why don' t I /you/we (+ verb)

Accepting or declining invitations and offers

Use these phrases to accept offers.

Use these phrases to reject offers.

(I'm sorry but) I'm afraid I'm not free that day / I'm working that weekend / I can't make it.

Sorry to miss it.

Hope you have a great time.

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Writing and responding to an informal email invitation - Test-English

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Learn how to write an informal email to invite a friend and how to respond to it with our examples, tips, useful phrases and exercises.

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Past simple - sentences

We can use past simple sentences to talk about things we did in the past.

How to use them

For regular verbs, the past simple ending is ed, for example:

For irregular verbs, there is a special past simple form, for example:

For negatives, use didn't and the verb, but don't change the verb to the past form.

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We can use past simple sentences to talk about things we did in the past. For regular verbs, the past simple ending is ed, for example: For irregular verbs, there is a special past simple form, for example: For negatives, use didn't and the verb, but don't change the verb to the past form.