Answer Keys
Part 1
1 B – constant. If something is constant, it is there all the time and doesn’t change. Other words do not collocate with this word in the given context.
2 A – far. ‘By far’ here means ‘as close or similar as it can be’.
3 D – team. Crew is people operating some vehicle, such as a ship or a plane. A gang is a group of criminals. Cast refers to actors taking part in a play or a film.
4 B – effects. ‘Issues’ and ‘risks’ have a negative meaning, which is not implied here. ‘Results’ normally refer to something finished or completed.
5 D – face. This is the most common verb to use with something difficult or unpleasant. ‘To face a problem/challenge/enemy’.
6 A – unlike. The only word here that can work without preposition. As you can see, there is no preposition after the gap which limits our choice.
7 B – level. ‘Sea level’ is a common phrase that means the height of an object relative to the sea.
8 B – cut. ‘Cut off’ means isolated, kept apart from something or somebody.
Part 2
9 as. ‘Regarded as’ means it is seen as something. Grammatically, it would also be okay to say ‘regarded to be’, but you should only use one word to fill the gap in this part of FCE Reading and Use of English.
10 when. It refers to the month of August, the choice here is fairly simple.
11 below/under. We are talking about temperature here and in the previous one. Don’t be confused by lowest and highest points of the course – these refer to the low and high altitudes. It is always much colder when you are high in the mountains.
12 this. ‘But’ introduces a contrast between a regular marathon and this one.
13 which. A non-restrictive clause is used here. It adds non-essential information that can be skipped without ruining the sentence.
14 spite. ‘In spite of’ shows contrast – even though the race is very challenging, it attracts a lot of athletes.
15 such. ‘To such an extent’ – to the point that, so much that.
16 on. ‘On average’ means roughly or approximately.
Part 3
17 consideration. We use an adjective + noun combination here. Do not use ‘considering’ – if there is a ‘real’ noun instead of the gerund (basically, when you take a verb and add -ing to make a noun) then you should stick to it. This is a general rule of Cambridge exams.
18 existing. Adjective is used here. Do not use ‘existential’ it refers to the idea of existence, i.e. meaning of life.
19 politicians. Clearly we are looking for a profession here. An important thing is to use the plural form – because ‘lawyers’ are plural and connected to the gap with ‘and’.
20 shortage. Shortage is lack of something, when something is not present in needed amount or quantity.
21 specialise/specialize. Both American and British spelling of this verb can be used to get the point for this answer.
22 loss. Adjective + noun + of. Remember to spell it correctly to get the points.
23 construction. Even though the previously used ‘manufacturing’ is formed with ‘-ing’, if we mention the industry, it is ‘construction’. ‘Constructing’ means the process of building something, not the business, industry or activity.
24 disappeared. Contextually, we need a negative meaning, so we use the prefix dis-.
Part 4
25 wouldn’t/would not have woken up. Third conditional sentence is used here. Conditionals are common in Part 4, so make sure to revise zero, first, second and third conditionals.
26 work nearly as well as. Nearly is normally used in negative phrases. Keep subject-verb pair in check – the verb has to be plural because we use ‘browsers’.
27 whether she could borrow his. In reported speech, we have to take the so-called ‘one step back’ with the tenses. The original sentence is in Present Simple, so the reported one has to be in Past Simple.
28 such a skillful/skilled. A straightforward transformation with some options. Both skillful and skilled can be used. Some people might choose to spell it ‘skilful’ with one l.
29 have gone to bed earlier. We express regret here in a slightly different way, nothing too complex though. Even though we use ‘last night’, we still stick to Present Perfect because of ‘should’.
30 was caused by the late. Passive voice is used to show that something was done to us or our situation. ‘By’ here introduces the actor, i.e. late arrival.
Part 5
31 B. The buckle incident and her reaction to it help us find the answer. There is no mentioning of her getting annoyed or having any problem with finding a place for her things. While later she does mention her PhD theses, she is not planning to work on it right now.
32 C. She states that she works for a fashion company while doing her PhD at the same time. She makes no mentioning of her nationality. She is not changing her employer, she is merely travelling to do work at a different location.
33 D. When deciding whether to go to bed, the writer glances at their watch and states that the flight is only three hours, therefore they are not going to get much sleep either way.
34 C. The way sentences follow one another points out to answer C. The extremely low temperatures she mentions took place in Saskatchewan, not Montreal. Nothing from answers B or D is mentioned in her story about low temperatures.
35 A. She explains how it could possibly happen; ‘that’ is used to point at the situation when you don’t realise how cold your body really is, which can lead to serious injury.
36 B. The long pause mentioned is a hint that the subject has to be changed. In order to avoid confusion, it is important to keep in mind that the plane is leaving Bangalore, which is in India.
Part 6
37 D. ‘It’s a well-known condition’ from the next sentence confirms that the author is not alone. Many others suffer from the same phenomenon.
38 F. The results of survey are given to the reader and various statistical analysis is presented.
39 C. This and the next sentence talk about examples of unfortunate ‘surprises’ one might expect after returning back to work from a long holiday.
40 G. Past Perfect here helps us make the right choice. First comes the holiday, then the depression. You might want to try sentence B here, but it discusses the positive aspects, while this one focuses on the negative ones.
41 E. ‘The first’ and ‘the next’ that the two sentences start with help make the connection. The author gives us various technique to make the holiday hangover less unpleasant.
42 A. ‘Now’, ‘in early’ and ‘by September’ are all time phrases that help us make the contextual connection.
Part 7
43 D. First sentence of the paragraph mentions how she was lucky not to get any injuries.
44 B. Second half of the paragraph states that even though her family wasn’t very sporty, her parents got her into sports and continued to support her throughout her career.
45 C. Jessica’s degree in psychology is surprisingly not very helpful when it comes to her understanding herself and the way she stays motivated to prepare for competitions.
46 C. The injury in Beijing was a serious psychological setback for her.
47 A. Second sentence of the paragraph mentions her determination and how happy she is to win are some of the reasons the public adores her.
48 D. Middle of the paragraph talks about a world champion who couldn’t believe having lost to an athlete preparing for several different discipline while she focused on her only one – 200 metre race.
49 B. Taller and bigger girls would pick on Jessica back at school because of her small stature.
50 A. Last sentence of this paragraph talks about Jessica’s height and weight. Then it is said that this can be misleading and she has all the physical ability to emerge victorious.
51 C. Her coach Chell is mentioned, with whom she often falls out.
52 B. The very first sentence mentions Jessica’s transformation when it comes to competitions.
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
Obtain (v) – to get, to acquire something.
Stay (n) – a period of living or working somewhere. I hope your stay at our hotel will prove to be pleasant.
Adapt (v) – to get used to something unusual or changing. It can be difficult for immigrants to adapt to the cultural differences of their new host country.
Part 2
Annually (adv) – happening once every year.
Range from … to … – to differ in number or amount. Prices for the new model range from 300 to 750 dollars.
Extent (n) – scale, scale or degree of something. I agreed with her to some extent, but I can’t say I fully supported her idea of moving abroad.
Course (n) – (here) a route used for a race. The course is a mixture of tarmac and gravel and is over 15 kilometers long.
Part 3
Assume (v) – to think or to make a conclusion that is not based on facts or data.
Persuade (v) – to convince, to make somebody change their mind.
Rapid (adj) – quick, happening over a short time. The rapid change in the company made some people uneasy.
Stack (v) – to put thing, to fill spaces. My job here is to stack shelves in the dairy department.
Take over (phr v) – to become in charge instead of somebody else. The new boss will be gradually taking over our business over the new few weeks.
Part 5
Stow (v) – to put luggage or cargo in a designated place for the duration of transportation.
Buckle (n) – the part of the belt that makes it fasten and secure the other end.
Thesis (n) – (here) an academic paper that needs to be finished in order to get a degree in a particular scientific field.
Altitude (n) – a more technical synonym for ‘height’
Dimmed (adj) – made less bright. The foggy morning made dimmed sunshine look truly magical.
Loll (v) – (about a part of body) to lie or hang on one side. His injured hand lolled helplessly like a loose string.
Dull (adj) – boring, uninteresting.
Tingle (v) – a sensation similar to being prickled lightly with a needle. I felt tingling in my shoulder because I’ve been lying on this side for too long.
Drought (n) – a natural phenomenon when there is no rain and strong heat for a prolonged period of time.
Fashion into (phr v) – to make something in a particular shape or way. I fashioned my life into a mixture of travelling and writing.
Part 6
Miserable (adj) – bitterly unhappy, discomforted. Commuting through busy London traffic every day would make anybody feel miserable.
Face like thunder – to look or appear very angry. When we saw that the manager had a face like thunder, we knew what was coming next.
Hangover (n) – headache and dehydration resulting from excessive alcohol consumption. Used figuratively here to show how miserable a person feels when they have to go back to work after holidays.
Injustice (n) – lack of fairness, absence of justice.
Long face – used figuratively, it means bad mood or sad appearance.
Content (adj) – happy and satisfied. Having a nice mug of coffee in the morning is a surefire recipe to make me feel more content with the rest of the day.
Wage slave – used humorously, it means a person who depends on their salary to survive – as opposed to a business owner who has various sources of income.
Fortnight (n) – two weeks.
Part 7
Misleading (adj) – giving wrong information or sending a wrong message without meaning to do so. Foreign language technical manuals can often be misleading because of poor or inaccurate translation.
Setback (n) – a misfortune or failure that undoes progress one has achieved. A $5000 fine our business had to pay was a major financial setback.
Contribute (v) – to do your part in something, to help. Your knowledge and expertise greatly contributed to our school Chemistry project.
Endurance (n) – ability to stay strong and energetic during physically demanding activity.
Fierce (adj) – powerful and aggressive.
Pick on somebody (phr v) – to harass somebody, usually because they are younger or weaker than you are.
Row (n) – an argument or a conflict.
Bounce back (phr v) – to recover after an injury, either physical or psychological.
To take something for granted – not to appreciate something that you have.
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