Answer Keys
Part 1
1 C. Chloe warns about the older milk expiring tomorrow and says she bought a fresh bottle. She asks Tom to ‘use the older one first’. This means finishing the older milk before opening the new one. Option A is wrong because she does not tell him to throw the milk away – she wants him to use it. Option B is wrong because she wants the older milk finished first, not the fresh one.
2 B. The label clearly says ‘For staff use only’. Staff means people who work at the hospital. Option A and C are wrong because the label tells patients and visitors to use the gel bottles at the reception desk instead.
3 B. The sign gives a phone number for urgent situations. If a customer cannot wait 20 minutes, they should call that number. Option C (Wait at the door until someone returns) is wrong because the customer cannot wait – that is the whole situation described in the question. The question says ‘if they cannot wait’, so waiting at the door is not an option.
4 A. ‘Card payments only’ means that only debit and credit cards are accepted. Option B is wrong because the machine does not accept coins or notes. Option C is wrong because the phone number is for refunds, not for buying items.
5 B. To collect the suitcase, someone must say what is inside. Option A is wrong because the label does not ask for a flight ticket – it asks for a description of the contents. Option C is incorrect – 12 May is when the suitcase was found, not a date to claim it.
Part 2
6 B. Henrik wants practical work on weekday mornings, not with computers. Place 2 offers furniture repair on weekday mornings between 8 am and 12 pm, so he can start at 8.30 am. Place 7 is afternoons (he is busy then). Place 6 uses computers.
7 A. Mina wants weekend outdoor work with plants or animals, within the city centre. Place 1 is available on weekend mornings at a farm a ten-minute walk from the centre. Place 7 is weekdays. Place 4 is outdoors but not animal-related.
8 C. Pavel wants to improve his spoken English on Tuesday or Thursday evenings, one-to-one, no children. Place 3 is exactly that for adult learners. Place 8 involves children. Place 6 has computers.
9 D. Roxanne is free Saturday mornings, wants physical activity, organising, under three hours. Place 4 runs Saturday 9–11 am and involves physical tasks with organised equipment. Place 1 is three hours exactly, but less organising. Place 6 is not physical.
10 E. Omar wants Wednesday afternoon experience helping younger children learn something practical. Place 5 takes places Wednesday 3.30–5 pm and involves assisting with sports. Place 8 is academic, not practical. Place 4 does not involve children.
Part 3
11 C. The first sentence says ‘I only went for the sandwich’, and the writer adds ‘I had no carpet’ (so Option A doesn’t work) and ‘nothing else to do’. Option B doesn’t fit – he shows no curiosity about the salesman. Option D is wrong because meeting people is not mentioned – just the fact that it was most elderly couples from the neighbourhood that showed up.
12 C. The text directly says After twenty minutes, I wanted to leave. But the sandwich had not arrived yet. So I stayed. Options A, B, and D are not supported by the text.
13 D. The writer says Derek told stories not about cleaning – about his brother, locking his keys in his van, and his wife cutting his hair. These are all personal life stories. Option A overstates – the audience did not forget the machine completely. Options B and C are not supported.
14 B. Derek thanks the audience for staying and says it means a lot. The writer concludes Derek was selling an hour and a half of his time. This shows Derek valued having people stay and listen over selling the product. Options A, C, and D are the opposite of what the text suggests.
15 B. The writer says a good salesman would have talked about the machine, but Derek talked about personal stories. By saying Derek knew exactly what he was doing, the writer means Derek succeeded in making the audience feel valued and welcome, not pressured to buy. Option A is wrong because the writer does not compare story‑telling ability to carpet cleaning ability. Option C is wrong because people stayed because they wanted to – Derek did not trap them. Option D is wrong because Derek never suggests that free food was the only reason people came.
Part 4
16 B. The sentence before says someone had written a six‑digit number on the shelf. The sentence after says the writer almost did not call. Gap 16 needs a sentence that connects seeing the number to deciding whether to call. Option B (‘I looked at the phone and decided to try it’) fits perfectly. Option G describes the smell, which is not relevant here.
17 A. The woman laughs after the writer explains how he found her number. Gap 17 needs a sentence that explains why she laughs – because she never received a call at that number. Option A (She said she had never received a call there) makes logical sense. Option H (She told me she had never told anyone that story before) is possible but does not explain the laugh.
18 F. The writer asks what happened to the boy. The sentence after says She did not want to talk about it. Gap 18 needs a sentence that shows she avoided answering. Option F (She did not answer my question) fits exactly. Option D (The boy had moved away without saying goodbye) gives a specific answer, but the text says she did not want to talk about it, we can’t know this information.
19 C. The writer and the woman have spoken for forty minutes, sharing personal stories. Gap 19 needs a sentence that describes how this connection felt. Option C (I felt as if we had known each other for years) captures the unexpected closeness of the conversation. Option H could also fit here, but it is less specific to the feeling of the moment.
20 E. The writer realises that a seventeen-year-old twenty years ago would now be thirty-seven, but the woman’s voice sounded much older. Gap 20 needs a sentence that resolves this contradiction. Option E (‘Then I realised – she had written the number twenty years ago, but she had not been seventeen then’) explains the twist: she lied about her age, or the number was written earlier than she said.
Part 5
21 D. ‘Take the bus’ is the standard collocation for using a bus as transport. ‘Drive the bus’means to operate it as the driver. ‘Choose the bus’ is grammatically possible but not the natural expression here. To select the bus sounds too formal and unnatural.
22 A. ‘Feel the benefit’ is the most natural collocation when describing noticing positive physical or emotional effects.
23 D. Which is used when choosing from a known set – here, the gardens along the route. Option A (where) refers to places, but the sentence needs a word that works with gardens had flowers. Option B (what) is possible but less precise than which when the set is limited. Basically, the confusion between ‘which’ and ‘what’ is easy to avoid when you understand, that ‘which’ talks about particular things, while ‘what’ is more general.
24 C. ‘And before long’ is a natural way to add another event in sequence. This is the only expression that fits.
25 B. ‘Looking at’ means directing your eyes towards something. ‘Watching’, ‘seeing’ and ‘noticing’ are incorrect, as none require the preposition ‘at’.
26 A. If you get into a habit, it means you start doing it regularly. Other options do not form any established expressions.
Part 6
27 on. We use the preposition ‘on’ when referring to days. Note that ‘every’ is incorrect -it could work if we had ‘Tuesday evening’, singular.
28 more. ‘Never speaks more than necessary’ means he says only what he needs to and nothing extra. This is a fixed comparative structure. A common wrong answer would be other (never speaks other than), but that would change the meaning to ‘he only says thank you and nothing else’ – possible but less precise. More is the best fit.
29 as/while/when. All listed words mean ‘during the time that’. They show that the stopping happened at the same moment he was putting his shoes back. ‘When’ is admittedly less precise because the other two options better show the idea of one action happening during the other.
30 himself. If you keep to yourself, it means that you are a quiet person who does not socialise much. The writer is surprised that this private person asked for help. A possible wrong answer is ‘him’ (‘kept to him’ – incorrect) or alone (which appeared in the original but was removed because it appears later in the text). Himself tests a useful reflexive pronoun in a fixed expression..
31 that. ‘Pointed out that he was releasing the ball too early”–’that’ introduces a noun clause explaining what the writer observed.
32 during. ‘During the game’ means at some point within the game. This is a preposition of time. A common wrong answer would be ‘in’ – while ‘in the game’ can work, ‘during’ is more natural for an action that happens repeatedly within an activity. Another wrong answer would be ‘after’, which would change the meaning to after the game finishes, but the text says ‘during’ because he waves while playing.
Vocabulary
The vocabulary below is meant to help you with the more difficult words. If the word isn’t on the list then you are either supposed to know it or it is too specific to be worth learning and you don’t have to know it to answer the question. Symbols in brackets mean part of speech(see bottom of the list). Sentences in italics give examples of usage for some more complex words and phrases.
And remember — you are not given a vocabulary list (or a dictionary) at your real exam.
Part 1
Expire (v) — (of food or drink) become too old to be used or eaten safely. The milk expires tomorrow, so we should finish it today.
Go bad (phrase) — (of food) become rotten or no longer safe to eat. If you leave fruit out for too long, it goes bad and you have to throw it away.
Dispenser (n) — a machine or container that gives out a specific product when you press a button or put money in. The hand sanitiser dispenser is empty because so many people have used it.
Urgent (adj) — needing immediate attention or action. She received an urgent message from her boss and called back straight away.
Refund (n) — money that is given back to you after you return something you bought. The shop gave me a full refund because the phone was broken when I opened the box.
Credit card (n) — a small plastic card that allows you to buy something now and pay later. I paid for the hotel room with my credit card, and I will pay the bill at the end of the month.
Debit card (n) — a small plastic card that takes money directly from your bank account when you buy something. Using a debit card means you cannot spend more money than you have in your account.
Notes (n) — paper money; banknotes. The machine only accepts notes, not coins, so you will need a five-pound paper bill.
Claim (v) — to ask for or take something that belongs to you or that you have a right to. Passengers should claim their luggage at carousel number four after the flight lands.
Part 2
Volunteer role (n) — an unpaid position where someone gives their time to help others. She applied for a volunteer role at the animal shelter, walking dogs on weekends.
Retired (adj) — stopped working permanently, usually because of age. My retired neighbour spends his mornings gardening and his afternoons reading.
Carpenter (n) — a person whose job is to make or repair wooden objects and buildings. The carpenter built a new bookshelf for the living room.
Maintain (v) — to keep something in good condition by checking or repairing it regularly. You need to maintain your bicycle by oiling the chain and pumping the tyres.
Biology (n) — the scientific study of living things, including plants and animals. In biology class, we learned about how frogs grow from eggs to adults.
Heavy lifting (n) — the act of moving or carrying heavy objects. The job involves heavy lifting, so you need to be strong and careful with your back.
Teaching application (n) — a formal request to be accepted onto a teacher training course or for a teaching job. Her teaching application included a personal statement about why she wanted to work with children.
Practical (adj) — relating to real actions and skills rather than theory or ideas. The course teaches practical skills like changing a tyre, not just reading about cars.
Part 3
Leaflet (n) — a small printed sheet of paper containing information or advertising. The leaflet about the new shopping centre was pushed through everyone’s letterbox.
Conference room (n) — a large room where meetings or presentations are held. The company booked a conference room with a projector and whiteboard.
Spray (v) — send liquid out in small drops from a container. She sprayed water on the plants to keep them fresh.
Stain (n) — a dirty mark on a surface that is difficult to remove. Red wine left a stain on the white tablecloth that would not wash out.
Clap (v) — hit your hands together to show approval or enjoyment. The audience clapped loudly when the singer finished the song.
Funeral (n) — a ceremony held after someone dies. The funeral took place at the church, and many people came to say goodbye.
Pickle (n) — a food made of vegetables preserved in vinegar or salt water. He added slices of pickle to his sandwich for extra flavour.
Part 4
Phone booth (n) — a small enclosed structure with a public telephone. The phone booth at the corner of the street has not worked for years.
Pouring rain (phrase) — raining very heavily. The football match was cancelled because it was pouring rain and the pitch was flooded.
Digits (n) — the numbers from 0 to 9, especially when used as part of a longer number. The security code is six digits long, starting with 3 and ending with 9.
Admitted (v) — said something that you felt slightly embarrassed or unwilling to say. He admitted that he had forgotten to buy milk on the way home.
Decade (n) — a period of ten years. The building has stood there for three decades without any major repairs.
Part 5
Mindlessly (adv) — without thinking or paying attention. She scrolled mindlessly through social media while waiting for the bus to arrive.
Flickt hrough (phrasal v) — turn the pages of a book or the screen of a phone quickly. He flicked through the magazine in the waiting room without really reading anything.
Stare at (phrasal v) — look at something for a long time without moving your eyes. The child sat staring at the television, completely absorbed in the cartoon.
Ache (v) — feel a continuous, dull pain. My legs ached after walking up the hill with a heavy backpack.
Memorize (v) — learn something so well that you can remember it perfectly. She memorised all the capital cities of Europe for the geography test.
Wander (v) — move slowly without a fixed direction or purpose. His mind wandered during the long lecture, and he started thinking about his weekend plans.
Part 6
Bowling alley (n) — a building where people can play bowling. The bowling alley was crowded on Friday night with birthday parties and groups of friends.
Outings (n) — short trips or visits to a place for pleasure. The school organised a day outing to the museum for all the students.
Releasing (v) — letting go of something you are holding. He released the ball too early, and it flew to the left instead of straight.
Pins (n) — the ten wooden targets that you try to knock over in bowling. He threw the ball hard and knocked down all ten pins for a strike.
