CAE Use of English Part 1, Test 5 – Coffee and tea

Answers and explanations

1. C – punch. An idiomatic expression ‘to pack a punch’ means to have a particularly strong effect. The verb ‘pack’ is what should connect well with the choice we make. Other options could work, like ‘can have a comparable force/effect’, but naturally, this would require to change ‘pack’ to ‘have’.
2. B – made up. If you make up for something, you compensate for the lack of it, e.g. ‘This country makes up for its lower salaries by providing free healthcare and education’. To keep on means to continue. To stand in is to replace somebody, because the original person is not present. If you hold on to something, you keep it in your possession.
3. A – act. In this context, we talk about substances that have a particular effect on the human body. ‘Operate’ shouldn’t be used here as we don’t normally use it with the preposition, instead, it just takes an object, e.g. ‘to operate this machine, you need a special permission’. The remaining two verbs usually take no preposition as well, but in addition have meanings not fitting the context.
4. C – feet. Another idiomatic expression, to be quick on one’s feet means to have a sharp mind and the ability to make quick decisions. Keep in mind, that knowing idioms is a great help when doing CAE Use of English exercises.
5. D – rich. If a food or drink is rich in something, then it contains a lot of it. Used positively. Other options: to be full of something, to be filled with something, to be great for something.
6. A – rid. We look at the preposition that comes directly after the gap. This dictates our choice here: when you rid somebody of something, you take it away from them (can be both positive and negative). The remaining three options do not usually require a preposition.
7. B – far. A set phrase. When we say that something goes as far as to do (or doing) something, it means that the effect of it can be quite extreme or unexpected. For instance: ‘George went as far as to divorce Mary just to prove that he is capable of decisive actions’.
8. C – anecdotal. There are two real phrases here: scientific and anecdotal evidence. While the first one is clear and means something confirmed by scientists, we cannot really use it here. The last part of the sentence clearly states that no research has confirmed these findings. Anecdotal evidence means the opposite – personal and unconfirmed experiences without any scientific basis.