Answer Keys
Part 1
1 C – denied. ‘Cannot be denied’ is a set phrase that means that nobody would argue against the expressed idea, e.g. ‘it cannot be denied that higher education greatly improves the odds of getting a well-paid job for most people’.
2 A – trouble. To take the trouble to do something means to make an effort to do it. Even though the word ‘effort’ describes the idea well, grammatically it cannot be used here – we can’t say ‘to take effort’. Other phrases with these words: ‘to make an effort to do something’, ‘to take care of something’, ‘to concern oneself with something’.
3 D – aspects. Aspects are technical parts of something, like a process or an activity.
4 B – capture. ‘To capture a picture’ is a common collocation relating to photography.
5 C – stimulates. If something stimulates you, it pushes or forces you to do it. ‘Motivates’ fits grammatically, but it doesn’t fit the idea. You don’t need to be motivated to make good pictures – it is a natural desire that requires no motivation. The remaining two verbs do not fit the context.
6 A – manage. The preposition ‘to’ limits our choice of the verb. Compare: ‘to succeed in something’, ‘to achieve something’, ‘to reach something’.
7 C – source. A source is a place, either literal or figurative, that has a lot of something. Can be used both positively and negatively, e.g. ‘a source of many troubles’.
8 B – completely. If you miss something completely, you do not notice it at all.
Part 2
9 least. ‘At least’ expresses the idea ‘at the minimum, no less than’.
10 get. ‘Get used’ means some change – exactly the idea that is expressed in the context. ‘Be used’ means that you already are in the habit – this contradicts the context as it is suggested that you should take it slow.
11 of. The gerund form ‘picking’ takes ‘of’ here, like many other -ing forms in English.
12 is. A passive voice form is used here, it is a so-called impersonal structure, otherwise referred to as ‘distancing’.
13 to. ‘To allow somebody to do something’
14 out. If you run out of something (e.g. energy, money, patience) it means you no longer have it because you have spent or wasted it all.
15 Neither/nor. There is a strong contextual connection with the previous sentence, continuing the idea and expanding on it. The construction ‘neither/nor’ is used here, which normally stays in one sentence. However, in this case it has been split into two smaller sentences.
16 Whatever. Here, the message is ‘no matter what you do, do (or don’t do) this.’.
Part 3
17 sensitive. Here the word ‘sensitive’ means being able to pick up more detail and giving overall better information.
18 investigations. It is important to understand that only the plural form of the noun works here, as there is no article before ‘increasingly’. With singular form, it would need to be ‘A recent investigation’.
19 significant. The only adjective that works here. Note that ‘signifying’ would usually be followed by an object, i.e. ‘a discovery signifying that we are not alone in the universe’.
20 considerably. We are looking for an adverb – because the gap is next to a comparative form of an adjective. Adverb + adjective is a common combination that you will see in FCE Use of English Part 3.
21 possibility. Possibility of life on the planet.
22 comfortable. Another grammatically possible word is ‘comforting’, however it does not fit as the meaning is different. Comforting means giving you peace of mind, making you less worried or sad.
23 dependent/dependant. Both options are possible – the first one is predominantly American English, the second one is more common for British English.
24 unreal. Two reasons to use ‘unreal’ rather than ‘real’. First of all, the context that follows the gap suggests impossibility of such expedition. Secondly, you ALWAYS have to change the word in this task, it never remains the same.
Part 4
25 makes all the difference. ‘To make all the difference’ is to affect something greatly.
26 spite of the fact. ‘In spite of’ is similar to ‘despite’, but we cannot use the latter here as we have ‘in’ before the gap.
27 to give up (eating). In this context, you can both ‘give up fast food’ and ‘give up eating fast food’.
28 as well as answers. Notably, ‘answering’ shouldn’t be used because ‘goes answering’ means she literally walks somewhere to answer these emails. The key phrase here is ‘as well as’.
29 get my television fixed. ‘To have something done’ shows that somebody else is going to provide the service to you. It highlights that you are not doing it yourself.
30 is unusual for her to. A fairly straightforward transformation. It is unusual for somebody to do something.
Part 5
31 B. Last sentence of the paragraph outlines how young people might not realise the extent of their dependence on technology. Answer A is incorrect – Their grandfather sounds amazed rather than frustrated. The word ‘attitude’ in Answer C is whether something is seen positively and negatively, and none seem to mind technology. Answer D is not mentioned.
32 B. The author says that ‘she could see his point’ – it means that she understands what the grandfather meant. Moreover, if we read further, the next sentences give examples of how much easier it is for students to study nowadays. Answer A: it was the sister’s idea, not the author’s. Answer C and D are not mentioned.
33 C. She mentions that libraries have the benefit of being a ‘distraction-free location’. She also says that in the past it was the only option, meaning that we have other ways of studying now. A is incorrect – while she mentions the benefits of libraries, she points out that ‘some’ people might see it as the better option. B is wrong, as she clearly gives reasons for why somebody would want to study in a library. Answer D is not mentioned.
34 C. Last sentence of paragraph 3 says that the duty of replying to their students’ messages ‘puts an extra strain’ on teachers – that is the disadvantage mentioned.
35 A. She states her opinion of how important these devices are and how well they complement the studying process. No problem or criticism is expressed.
36 D. The idea is that students haven’t really changed – they still try their best to adapt to changes, changes that have always had a place in their lives. Answer A is wrong – while the statement is correct, this idea is not expressed by the author. Answers B and C are not mentioned.
Part 6
37 E. We see some examples of how the won money could be spent before the gap, and this sentence introduces a different one with ‘alternatively’.
38 G. As a part of the school premise, it makes sense to involve the tree in the education process. Answer F somewhat fits contextually, but doesn’t work factually – the tree is said to be 50 years old and sentence F says that it was planted almost 200 years ago. This is true for some of the other options – keep your eye on the age number in context.
39 A. ‘To take root’ means to develop a root system of their own and become trees – on other words, the branches have started getting nutrition from the ground through their own system, effectively developing into trees. This is the layering mentioned previously – multiple layers of trees and foliage.
40 C. Understanding the word ‘upright’ makes this choice very easy. If something is upright, it stands straight, without leaning. In this case, we have a tree leaning at 45 degrees.
41 D. The pronoun ‘it’ that begins the sentence after the gap helps us limit our choice. ‘It’ refers to the species of tree ‘rowan’ mentioned in sentence D.
42 F. Another tricky sentence to pick. This paragraph focuses on the story of ownership, so we get many names there. It is natural to choose sentence F here for this reason, as well as using the method of exclusion. Remember to leave the least obvious answer for last to make answering it easier by eliminating other options.
Part 7
43 D. Visitors to the festival are warned that monkeys might attempt to grab their phones.
44 A. Sadie says that she should have taken protective goggles to keep her eyes safe from tomatoes thrown at her.
45 C. ‘Courageous men and women’ are mentioned. Courage and bravery are pretty much synonymous.
46 B. People willing to take part in the festival are advised to book their accommodation in advance because of the increased demand and price increases that follow.
47 A. Sadie mentions getting hit in the eye and being unable to see well for a couple of days. Note that ‘C’ is incorrect – even though the word ‘hurting’ is mentioned, it is stated that nobody has been seriously hurt.
48 C. The event was overcrowded, so it was difficult to find a good place in the crowd (the sentence starts with ‘The event is free…’).
49 B. Various ‘mud-based skin creams’ get mentioned in the second half of the paragraph.
50 A. The second sentence of the paragraph mentions the two emotions that are very different from one another.
51 C. The particular kind of people are fans of extreme sports, mentioned in the first sentence of C.
52 D. The purpose of starting the festival was originally to boost tourism in the area.
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 at this level or it is too specific to be worth learning for the exam. 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
Ordinary (adj) – usual, not special. Often used negatively.
Scarf (n) – a piece of clothing worn around the neck to keep it warm. Just like the previous entry, this could be purely decorative.
On a regular basis – regularly. Exercising on a regular basis has a number of benefits.
Absorbing (adj) – (here) addictive, taking your attention, interesting.
Part 2
Gradually (adv) – slowly, not suddenly or abruptly.
Pace (n) – (here) the speed of something, e.g. ‘pace of life’.
Footwear (n) – a collective word for various types of shoes.
Part 3, 4
Orbit (v) – to follow something around in circle, like our planet follows the sun.
Jogging (n) – similar to running, but done for the purpose of fitness.
Part 5
Without a second thought (phr) – without thinking too much or too long before taking action.
Course of action (phr) – a way to do something. In case there is a fire in the building, you have to be familiar with the course of action on evacuating and helping others to escape.
Reflect (v) – (here) if you reflect on something, you think about it carefully.
Put strain on somebody – to make somebody more stressed, either physically or mentally. Having a part-time job at university puts extra strain on students, affecting their academic performance.
Query (n) – (here) a request for advice, consultation or advice.
Tempting (adj) – if something is tempting, you want to do it very much, especially if you know that it is not the best idea to do so. Living with your parents in your late twenties might sound financially tempting, but it does not give you the necessary level of independence a young adult needs.
Embrace (v) – (here) to accept something, to start using it.
Part 6
Shortlist (n) – in a contest or a competition, a shortlist is a final list of contestants for the main prize.
Trunk (n) – the main part of the tree, standing vertically with roots below and branches growing upwards and on its sides.
Underneath (adv) – below, under something. I had no warm clothes underneath my jacket, just a t-shirt.
Bark (n) – the thick layer of wood that covers the trunk of a tree. Bark can be used to start a fire when camping.
Hollow (adj) – empty on the inside.
Uprightness (n) – the quality of being upright – standing vertically.
Take root (n) – to grow roots. I was surprised to see how one of the seemingly dead branches took root and, after a year, turned into a small tree.
Emerge (v) – to appear from under or behind something else. A stream of gases emerged from the geyser with a loud hissing sound.
Part 7
Belongings (n) – things that belong to you. Can also be called possessions or personal effects.
Contrasting (adj) – very different from one another. Living with my parents and my life at the university dorm were two contrasting experiences.
Annual (adj) – happening once a year.
Dump (v) – to throw something away in a careless manner, especially if there is a lot of it.
Squashed (adj) – partially turned into liquid as a result of pressure. There was a squashed orange lying outside the supermarket, juice dripping from it.
Considerate (adj) – respectful of others, careful. It is important to be a considerate driver, especially in school and kindergarten areas.
Ruin (adj) – to make something useless by damaging or staining it.
Mud (n) – earth mixed with water, especially one that is sticky. When spring comes, our roads turn into rivers of mud, and it becomes nearly impossible to use your car to get around.
Accommodation (n) – any form of rented housing for a temporary stay. Examples include hotels, Airbnb apartments, and many others.
Spectator (n) – a person who watches some activity rather than takes part in it. Not to be confused with ‘viewer’, as the latter implies watching something on TV or the Internet.
Steep (adj) – if something (like a hill) is steep, it has a very large incline and it is difficult to go up or down it.
Roam free – to have freedom of movement, to be allowed to go wherever one wants.
Bold (adj) – brave, without fear. Can also be used to mean ‘arrogant’.
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