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Lesson planB270 minsNew. New: checked automatically for level, grammar, facts and originality; a teacher's review is still to come. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Students find out what each of the seven parts of the B2 First Reading and Use of English paper tests and try a short sample of every part, with the answers explained.
Reading · Use of english · Exam skills
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Download all (ZIP, 2 PDFs)Match each part of the paper to what it tests. There is one extra description.
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Read the text. For each gap, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) that best fits. If more than one answer seems possible, choose the most natural one for the context.
Exam task: Reading and Use of English, Part 1
Tip: Check the words after the gap too: a preposition or an object often tells you which verb fits.
Our running club meets every Saturday morning, and last month we finally 1 our rivals from Brookfield in the regional race. I nearly 2 the start, because my train was late. Luckily, a friend gave me a lift, and we 3 the starting line with two minutes to spare. More than two hundred people 4 part in the race this year.
Gap 1
Gap 2
Gap 3
Gap 4
Read the text. Write one word in each gap.
Exam task: Reading and Use of English, Part 2
Tip: Read the sentence before and after the gap, and ask what kind of word is missing: a preposition, a pronoun, a linker?
I had never held a paintbrush before last year, but my sister persuaded me to give 1 a try. My teacher is someone 2 really loves her job, and her enthusiasm is catching. Now I enjoy it so much 3 I paint every weekend. I'm not nearly as good 4 my teacher yet, but I'm getting better.
Use the word in capitals to form a word that fits each gap.
Exam task: Reading and Use of English, Part 3
Tip: Decide what kind of word the gap needs (noun, adjective, adverb, verb) and whether it should be negative or plural.
Many people who help at their local library find the work extremely 1REWARD. Finishing a project gives them a real sense of 2ACHIEVE, and talking to visitors every day can improve your 3CONFIDENT too.
If you'd like to join them, the application is 4SURPRISE simple: just fill in a short form at the desk.
Complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first. Use the word given and between two and five words, including that word. Don't change the word given.
Exam task: Reading and Use of English, Part 4
Tip: Each answer usually tests two things, for example a tense and a phrase. Check that your sentence keeps every detail of the meaning.
I started playing chess three years ago.
FOR
I three years.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
It isn't necessary for you to bring any food.
NEED
You any food.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
"Do you want to come to the cinema?" Sam asked me.
WHETHER
Sam asked me to go to the cinema.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
Read the text. For each question, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) that fits best according to the text.
Exam task: Reading and Use of English, Part 5
Tip: Find the part of the text the question is about, read it carefully, and check why each wrong option doesn't match.
When Hannah Clarke signed up for a pottery class, she expected a relaxing hobby. "I imagined calm evenings and a few pretty bowls," she says. "Instead, my first six pots collapsed before they were even dry." Most beginners, her teacher explained, try to control the clay too much. Hannah found this hard to accept. As an accountant, she is used to getting things right the first time, and the wheel kept showing her that she couldn't. For a few weeks she seriously thought about giving up. The other students kept her going. Nobody laughed when a pot fell apart; they simply started again, and so did she. By the end of the course she had made a set of slightly uneven mugs, which her family now uses every day. "They aren't perfect," she admits, "but that's rather the point. Pottery has taught me to relax about mistakes, at work as well as at the wheel."
Why did Hannah find the class difficult at first?
What does Hannah say about her mugs in the last paragraph?
Three sentences have been removed from the text. Choose the sentence (A–D) that fits each gap. There is one extra sentence.
Exam task: Reading and Use of English, Part 6
Tip: Look for links on both sides of each gap: pronouns (it, this, they), time words and ideas that continue or contrast.
Six months ago I couldn't swim a single length. As a child I had always found excuses to skip swimming lessons, and as an adult I was too embarrassed to admit it. [1] The first lesson was harder than I'd expected. I spent most of it holding on to the side of the pool. [2] By the third week, I could float on my back without panicking. The real breakthrough came in March. [3] Since then, I've been going to the pool twice a week, and last Sunday I swam twenty lengths without stopping.
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Read about three people's hobbies. For each question, choose the person (A–C). You can choose a person more than once.
Exam task: Reading and Use of English, Part 7
Tip: Underline the key idea in each question, then look for the same idea in different words in the texts.
A Marco: I started baking bread during a long winter when I couldn't go out much. Now I sell a few loaves at the Saturday market, which pays for my flour and a little more. I never expected my hobby to make money. B Priya: I joined a choir last year. I was terrified at the first rehearsal because I had never sung in front of anyone, but the others were so friendly that I soon forgot my nerves. C Tom: I go cycling with a group every Sunday morning. It's hard work, especially on the hills, but the café stop at the end makes it worthwhile, and I've made some good friends.
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