EXAM PREPARATION CAMBERIDGE

FCE PET
READING What do we READING & UOE What do we
practice? practice?
& UOE
Part 1 (Mc cloze) Vocabulary – idioms, Part 1 (Mc cloze) Reading notices and
A text collocations, shades of 5 texts other short texts to
meaning, phrasal verbs, understand the main
fixed phrases etc. message
Part 2 (Open cloze) Grammar and vocabulary. Part 2 (Matching) Reading eight short texts
A text with gaps Five short descriptions to find specific
information.
Part 3 (Word Vocabulary. Part 3 Reading Reading a text quickly to
formation) (True/False) find out T/F information.
A long text and 10
sentences.
Part 4 (Key word Grammar and vocabulary. Part 4 Reading A long text and five
transformations) (Multiple choice) questions. Reading to
Reading to understand understand the detail of
the detail of a text. a text.
Part 5 (Multiple Reading for detail, Part 5 Reading Understanding
choice) opinion, tone, purpose, (Multiple choice) vocabulary and
A text with some main idea, implication, A short text with 10 grammar.
multiple-choice and attitude. numbered spaces.
questions
Part 6 (Gapped How to understand the
text) structure and
A single page of text development of a text.
with some paragraphs
gaps
Part 7 (Multiple Reading for specific
matching) information, detail,
Match each statement opinion and attitude.
to the section or text 

WRITING WRITING
Types of task: Articles, email, essay, Types of task:
140–190  letter, report, review.

Part 1 (Compulsory Using language functions, Writing Part 1 Paraphrasing sentences

Essay) such as evaluating, (Sentence
3 ideas expressing opinions, transformations)
hypothesising, justifying,
persuading.
Part 2 (Situationally Writing Part 2 (Short Writing short messages.
based writing task) Writing different types of communicative (a postcard, note, email,
text: article, email/letter, message) etc.)
report or review.
Writing Part 3 an informal letter or a
(Continuous writing) story
LISTENING LISTENING
Part 1 (Multiple Listening for feeling, Part 1 (Multiple Listening to find key
choice) attitude, opinion, purpose, choice) information.
Eight short extracts  function, agreement, gist
and detail.
Part 2 (Sentence Listening for specific Part 2 (Multiple Listening to find specific
completion) information, stated information and detailed
A monologue choice)
opinion. meaning.

Part 3 (Multiple Listening for gist, attitude, Part 3 (Gap-fill) Listening for information.
matching) opinion, purpose, feeling,
5 themed main points and detail.
monologues
Part 4 (Multiple Listening for attitude, Part 4 (True/False) Listening for detailed
choice) opinion, detail, gist, main meaning, attitude and
A conversation idea and specific opinion.
information.

SPEAKING SPEAKING
Giving information about
Part 1 (Interview) Giving information about Part 1 (Interview) yourself.
with examiner yourself and expressing with examiner
your opinion about
various topics.
Making and responding
Part 2 (Long turn) Talking on your own about Part 2 (Long turn) to suggestions,
Each candidate: 2 something: comparing, With other candidate discussing alternatives,
photographs describing, expressing A situation making
description opinions, speculating recommendations,
+ extra Q negotiating agreement.
Describing photographs.
Part 3 Exchanging ideas, Part 3 (Collaborative
(Collaborative task) expressing and justifying task)
Between candidates opinions, agreeing and/or Individually
disagreeing, suggesting,
speculating, evaluating,
reaching a decision
through negotiation, etc.
Talking about your
Part 4 (Discussion) Expressing and justifying Part 4 (Discussion) opinions, likes/dislikes,
Between candidates opinions, agreeing and/or Between candidates experiences, habits, etc.
disagreeing.

http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/fce_grammar.htm

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/writing/
FCE tips:

UOE part 1: multiple choice cloze

Tip 1

The students should read the whole text through quickly first before even looking at the
questions.

Tip 2

The areas that often come up in part 1 are collocations (e.g. take part), commonly confused
words (e.g. make and do) and fixed expressions. Class time is probably most usefully spent on
dependent prepositions and/ or commonly confused verbs,

Activity: A nice activity for dependent prepositions or make/ do is SNAP. (The card game: players
take turns to place a card on the pile and shout out SNAP when there are two cards which are the
same - the first person to shout SNAP gets the cards)

Tip 3

If students have a feeling that one ‘sounds right’, they should go for it. They can always analyze
why it might or might not be right afterwards. They should only change an answer if they are
100% sure it is wrong. It is far more common to change a right answer than to change a wrong
one.

Tip 4

You can practise the skill of narrowing down the possibilities by asking students not only ‘which is
it?’, but also ‘which isn’t it?. If students really have no idea which is the correct answer, they
should start by deleting the ones that they are sure are not correct. They can then guess between
those that are left.

Activity: You can lead students into the part 1 task gently by giving them an exam task with the
right answers already selected and ask them why the other ones are wrong.

Part 2, open cloze

It is the closest to an equivalent test of grammar.

Part 3: word formation

Tip 1

As always, the first thing they should do is read the whole text first.

Tip 2.

They should always change the word given in brackets at the end of the line; just inserting the
word given will never get a point. The words are always next to the line with the relevant gap, so
stop students who think they have to try to find where each word should go.

Tip 3

After reading through the text they can start the task. They should first go with their instinct. If a
word pops into their head it is probably right, especially with the students who read a lot in
English.
Tip 4

They should think about what kind of word goes into each gap. This can be done using clues such
as word order.

Tip 5

Students then have to come up with the actual word! They can guess it by adding various prefixes
and suffixes until they get something that sounds right. This routine should also be used in class to
practice.

Tip 6

If they have time (they usually will), students should read through the whole text .

Part 4: key word transformations

Tip 1
Although this part is a test of vocabulary (e.g. phrasal verbs and parts of speech) as well as
grammar, classroom time on grammar is more likely to have an impact on students' performance
in the exam. Grammar students are likely to find in this part: unreal past (conditionals and
wishes), passives, reported speech, present perfect/ simple past, (past) modals, (not) as…..as,
and so/ such

Tip 2 
Remember: the gap should be filled with five words or fewer. Contractions count as two words,
not one.

Tip 3
Because of the scoring system, it's possible to get 50% in this section without getting any of the
questions 100% correct. So it's worth answering every question! Even incomplete answers can get
points.

Tip 4
Make absolutely sure that the two sentences mean the same thing. For example, if the sentence
to transform has names in it, the answer will have to have them too.

Tip 5
A nice warmer for this section is to have students brainstorm as many ways of saying one thing as
possible

Activity: To help develop self-correction and add a little competition, make doing exam part 4 into
a race. Put students in pairs and let them pass their exam back and forth to you to be checked as
many times as they like. The teacher, however, only marks the questions with 0,1 or 2 points
according to the marking scheme. Students must work out their own mistakes, and the first team
to get 100% right wins.

Tip 7
Remember that the word given must be included in the answer, and cannot be altered in any way

 
 http://www.splendid-speaking.com/exams/fce_speaking.html

FCE Speaking Test: Key Facts

.

Part 1 (Interview)
Example Questions

Q:  Where are you from?

Q:  Tell me something about your family.
Q:  What did you enjoy most when you were at primary school?
Q: Do you have any plans for a holiday this year?
Q: Do you play any musical instruments?

Tips!

Giving full answers to the examiner's questions will help get the interview off to a good start.

1) Avoid giving short, uncommunicative replies. 

2) Avoid short, 'yes', 'no' answers to closed questions.

Part 2 (Long Turn)

Example Task: They show people participating in sporting activities.
Q:  I'd like you to compare the two photographs and say why sport is important to people. 

Notice there are TWO instructions here: first to 'compare' the two photographs and also 'to say
why' sport is important to people. In Part 2 candidates need to show they can compare but
also give an opinion.

Tips!
1. Listen to the instructions carefully and make sure you
know what you have to talk about. If you don't
understand the instructions you should ask the
examiner to repeat them
2. The question will help you with the structure of your
talk. 
A) Start with a general summary of the topic: 

B) Then move on to a comparison of the two

pictures, using words to help explain the comparison: 

C) Finally give your opinion with examples, again

using signposting words and expressions to help the
examiner follow your argument.

3. Practise making short one-minute talks as often as

possible to get an idea for how long 1 minute feels like. Time yourself and ask a friend
for feedback.

Part 3: (Collaborative Task)

Example Task: I'd like you to imagine that you are planning a week-long touring holiday with
your partner around the country that you're studying in. You want to see as much as possible
but don't want to spend too much money on transport. Look at the types of transport shown in
the photographs.
Q:  First talk to each other about how useful each of these forms of transport might be for your
holiday. Then decide which one would be best.
  

Notice there are TWO instructions here: first to talk

about each form of transport then to 'decide' which one is
best for your holiday. This means you have to do more
than just describe the different forms of transport. You
also have to show you can work with your partner to try
to reach some form of agreement. You don't have to
reach agreement but you must at least work towards
this.

Tips!

It will help both yourself and your partner if you work together collaboratively on this task.

1. Be prepared to ask your partner for his or her opinion rather than simply stating your own.
For example:
'What do you think?'
'How about you?'
'Do you think ...?'

2. Listen carefully' to what your partner says and respond to comments he or she makes to
help the discussion flow. For example:
'Do/Have/Are you?'
'Don't/Haven't/Aren't you?'
'Do you think so?
'Really?'

3. If you disagree try expressing this politely. For example: 

'I see what you mean but ...'
'I can see your point but ...'
'But don't you think ...'

4. Use expressions to allow yourself time to think. For example: 

'That's a good question.'
'Well, let me think ...'
'It's difficult to say ...'

5. You'll possibly find you don't understand something your partner has said. If this happens,
take control with simple questions like those below to help you deal positively with the situation.
This will also give you the chance to impress the examiner with your communication skills. 

A) If you didn't quite understand a word or phrase just say something like:
"Sorry but could you explain what you mean by ........" or
"I haven't come across that word/expression before. Could you explain what you mean?"

B) If you didn't hear or didn't understand something your partner has said, ask them to repeat
it:
"Sorry, I didn't catch that. Could you say that again?"
"Excuse me. Could you repeat that?"

C) Alternatively, you might want to confirm what you think your partner said so you could say
something like:
"Do you mean ........"
"When you say ........, are you asking/do you mean ........?"

Part 4: (Discussion)
Example Questions

Q:  Which sports are popular with young people in your country?
Q:  Some people say people don't participate in sport as much as they should. Do you think this
is true?
Q:  Do you think team sports are more fun than individuial sports
Tips

1. Again, as with earlier sections of the test, avoid short, 'yes', 'no' answers to the examiner's
questions.

2. Continue to work with your partner. Respond constructively and show interest in things he or
she says.

Writing Practice ONLINE

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/writing/

 This week's FCE writing task: Essays

 Writing makeovers

 Linking words : Contrast, Addition, Purpose or reason, Time.

 Formal expressions for letter writing Beginning, body , Ending

 Proofreading (Checking errors)