Answer Keys
Part 1
Part 1
1 B – ever. ‘Have you ever’ is a common structure familiar to all B1-B2 learners. ‘Never’ is normally reserved for positive sentences (remember that we don’t use double negative in English). ‘Before’ would need to be at the end of the sentence to work in this context. ‘Yet’ has a different meaning.
2 C – waiting. Both ‘waiting’ and ‘looking’ work with the preposition ‘for’. However, the latter means that you actively search for it rather than just stand and wait for it to come. The other two verbs take different prepositions.
3 B – just. The idea here is that you sitting down and the other person standing up takes places at the same time, so ‘just’ is the only fitting option.
4 D – responsible. ‘Charged’ means officially accused of something. ‘Dishonest’ and ‘wrong’ do not fit grammatically.
5 B – far. Much more likely. ‘Less more likely’ doesn’t make any sense. ‘The more likely’ means more likely out of the two given options, so it doesn’t work in this context.
6 C – each. To apologise to each other – probably the easiest gap in this exercise.
7 A – explanation. The sentence goes on to try and explain why the mutual apology takes place. ‘Motive’ is something hidden rather than easily visible.
8 D – as. A comparative structure with two ‘as’ – something you should know if you’re taking an FCE test.
Part 2
9 have. Present Perfect is used here. Admittedly, the sentence could easily take the Past Simple, but we have to make it work with what we have, so the auxiliary ‘have’ is what is missing.
10 the. A superlative ‘best’, like any other superlative form, should take a definite article.
11 However/Nevertheless. In order to understand that we need a contrasting expression here, we read on until the end of the sentence. This is something you are encouraged to do, especially if the gap is at the beginning of a longer sentence.
12 make. ‘To make a decision’ is a common collocation. I often see students using ‘to take a decision’, which is incorrect.
13 to. Use ‘to’ when you want to show the purpose of an action!
14 done. ‘To do a research’ – yet another collocation. The auxiliary ‘have’ points at a Perfect tense, so we have to use the Past Participle form.
15 In/During. Both words work fine to show what happened in a particular period of time.
16 off. Definitely the most difficult gap here. ‘To make off with something’ means to escape with it, especially if you do it illegally.
Part 3
17 impatient. The hint is in the previous sentence – they like queueing up – that means they like forming a line, which means that they have the patience to wait. However, we have ‘never’, so we have to use the negative of patient to compensate for that. We end up with ‘They are never impatient’, which effectively means ‘they are always patient’.
18 silence. To sit in silence – to make no noise.
19 unsociable. Since people choose not to talk to one another, it means that they aren’t sociable. Note the negative prefix – it’s not ‘insociable’, such a form does not exist.
20 spicy. If food is spicy, it means it contains a lot of pepper and other hot spices in it.
21 choice. Note the switch from ‘s’ in the verb to ‘c’ in the noun form.
22 memorable. An adjective that means that something is going to stay in your memory for a long time.
23 apparently. ‘Apparently’ is used when you have no personal experience of something and therefore can’t be sure about it, but it seems to be that way according to others.
24 unlikely. Because the trip is expensive, we understand that the chances of their parents agreeing to having another one are low – therefore, we use the negative form: ‘unlikely’.
Part 4
25 such an important test that. Make sure to include the indefinite ‘an’ with a countable singular form of ‘test’.
26 got used to skating. If you get used to (doing) something, you make it your habit and no longer find it difficult.
27 so tired that. A pretty straightforward transformation with no obvious difficulties or traps.
28 make a decision (about)/make up their minds (about). Like in the preceding task, it is ‘to make a decision’, not ‘take a decision’. Alternatively, a figurative expression fits just as well.
29 do away with (showing). ‘To do away with something’ means to remove something or get rid of it. You might feel tempted to answer ‘take away’, however it does not convey the meaning of removing something, which is clearly implies by the context (advertisements are something people generally dislike)
30 you rather I went. The structure shows one’s desire to do one thing and not the other one.
Part 5
31 B. Mrs Palmer was concerned that her child might catch an infection from Marianne. Answer C is wrong – her husband didn’t mind, even though she had to convince him. Answers A and D are not mentioned.
32 B. The answer is in the middle of the paragraph: ‘… and now congratulated herself on not alarming Mrs Dashwood unnecessarily’. The opposite of Answer A is mentioned – Marianne did want to see her mother. She wasn’t getting better, despite what the doctor had said.
33 C. Obviously, ‘the worst’ implies the possibility of Marianne’s death. All other answers are not as dramatic and do not fit the idea of ‘worst’.
34 C. Continuing on the previous idea that Marianne might die, Elinor was worried that her mother wouldn’t make it in time to see her child alive. The opposite of Answer A is true – Marianne was in a ‘sleepless fever’. The text says nothing about how reliable the doctor was according to Marianne, although we could see that his treatments wasn’t working as intended.
35 A. The very end of Paragraph 8 contains the answer. Only after Marianne fell asleep, did Elinor realise that she was ‘out of danger’. Prior to that, she was telling herself not to get her hopes up.
36 B. She was expecting her mother to arrive soon, and her reaction was connected to that. The answer lies in the last paragraph, where she is said to have a ‘look of horror’ on her face. Answer A is incorrect – she hurried downstairs because she thought her mother had arrived, not because she wanted to hear the visitor out. Answers C and D do not get mentioned in the text.
Part 6
37 C. The key here is the word ‘unconventional’, or unusual, in other words. How many parents do you know who write comic books, for example?
38 E. Choosing the first sentence of a paragraph is usually more challenging, as you have limited context. However, here it is made quite clear by the sentence that comes after the gap. It says that Leo had troubles at school because of other kids bullying him. Moreover, Sentence E works great with the previous paragraph, which focuses on how much his parents loved him.
39 D. As Leo became enthralled with acting, his parents decided to do what they can to realise his ambition. The sentence coming after the gap expands on this idea, even though only his mother is mentioned, probably because his parents got divorced by this point.
40 G. It is likely that you will have to choose between Sentence B and Sentence G here. The latter fits better, as it is more general and introduces the idea of his initial success in the industry. Sentence B is more of a reach (an assumption), and therefore does not work nearly as well.
41 A. It is implied that his lifestyle was a bit controversial (rebellious, against the accepted norms), and he would often find himself in the news and newspapers (the headlines). Despite that, movies and acting remained his main focus.
42 F. Leo took acting very seriously, choosing the characters and making sure his performance was believable.
Part 7
43 D. In the middle Paula clearly says that she isn’t always reliant on Jane and gives examples of how spontaneous she can be.
44 B. The very first thing Ned says is his attitude to long-lasting friendship: ‘I think that old friends are the best of all’
45 D. Paula likes to do something without thinking about it too much – the example of choosing a flat illustrates that well.
46 A. Ian is an introvert, so he prefers to keep to himself, while his sister Eva is the exact opposite of him in that respect.
47 B. Ned believes that close friends don’t have to be together all the time (last sentence of his paragraph).
48 A. Ian and Eva go to parties together (middle of the paragraph).
49 C. Tim is not just a friend of Flora, but also her acting manager, helping with the business side of her occupation.
50 A. Other people expect Ian and Eva to have similar personalities on account of them being twins. However, it is evident that they are very different.
51 B. Ned is hoping to get into painting in the future. If that doesn’t happen, then becoming a musician is something he is considering as well.
52 D. Paula believes that she is making Jane happier simply because of the fact that she is with her often.
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
Stereotype (n) – a belief or opinion that is strongly associated with somebody or something (which can be either true or not).There is a strong stereotype that women make worse drivers than men.
The Tube – the underground railway system in the UK; subway.
Survey (n) – an activity of asking many people their opinion on a particular subject. I participated in a survey on how we could make the city more pedestrian-friendly.
Admit (v) – to agree that something is true, especially if the truth is uncomfortable. He admitted having stolen the purse.
Part 2
Star (v) – (about a movie, a play, etc) to have somebody as the main star (character). Eyes Wide Shut, starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, was Kubrick’s last movie.
To make appearance – to be a part of a show, a movie or a party. He hasn’t made any public appearance in years.
Rob (v) – to take money or possessions from somebody by force, unlawfully. Do not confuse this with stealing, where the same thing is done secretly, for example when the owner of the house is not there.
Outlaw (n) – a criminal. Literally, the person who exists outside of the law, hence the name.
Part 3, 4
Adore (v) – to like something a lot, to feel great love towards something or someone. I adore this song – please, turn it up!
Queue up (phr v) – to form an orderly line; to stand in said line.
Host family – a family that you stay with when a part of a foreign exchange programme.
Accustomed (adj) – familiar with something because you’ve had a lot of experience with it.
Talk something over (phr v) – to discuss something, especially in order to reach some kind of a decision. We talked our business plan over during dinner.
Advertisement (n) – a short video or audio fragment that is shown in order to promote a certain product or service. It feels like we have more advertisements than we used to did a couple of years ago.
Part 5
Delightful (adj) – pleasant and enjoyable. It was delightful to make friends with such a well-read, intelligent person as herself.
Feverish (adj) – affected by fever – having high body temperature, headache, and accelerated heartbeat.
Restless (adj) – unable to have rest, either because you are worried or sick. The exam week was a restless experience I am unlikely to forget soon.
Relation (n) – an old-fashioned word meaning ‘relative’, i.e. somebody from your (extended) family.
In somebody’s absence – when somebody is not around, not present. In the manager’s absence Patrick was to take care of all business matters.
To fetch somebody – to bring somebody, to call for this person.
Colonel – a senior military rank.
Confess (v) – to tell the truth, especially if it is unpleasant. The criminal confessed that he was indeed the person who stole all the money from the bank.
Persuade (v) – to make somebody do something or change their mind. To convince.
Carriage (n) – an old vehicle, usually made of wood, that is pulled by one or more horses.
Horror (n) – a strong feeling of fear.
Part 6
To be in the public eye – to be the centre of public attention. Most celebrities hate being in the public eye.
Unconventional (adj) – unusual, untraditional, far from the accepted norm. Unconventional medicine nowadays is getting increasingly popular as people become less confident in traditional methods.
Audition (v) – to try your luck in an organised event where they look at actors who want to be in a particular movie.
Blockbuster (n) – a popular film, play and so on that makes its creators a lot of money.
Rebellious (adj) – not following the rules, going against the accepted norms.
Passion (n) – if something is your passion, then it is your biggest interest in life. His passion for music did not lead to him becoming involved in the industry professionally.
To raise awareness of something – to make people know more about some issue because you feel that it deserves more attention.
Headlines (n) – the text that comes before an article in a magazine or a newspaper. The purpose of the headline is to engage and make you want to read the article.
Part 7
Get on well with somebody – to be in good relations with them. It is hard for me to get on well with my cousins, because they and I are so different.
Complain (v) – to say that you are unhappy with something.
Outgoing (adj) – an outgoing person likes to spend their time meeting other people. She used to be much more outgoing; nowadays she rarely leaves the house and spends her time reading.
To do a degree in something – to study something at a college or university, usually in order to do it professionally after they graduate.
Work out (phr v) – (here) if something works out, it happens the way you want it to. Despite me trying my best, my romance with her didn’t work out in the end.
Upset somebody – to make someone feel sad or unhappy. It is easy to get upset when a person you considered your friend lets you down.
Laid-back (adj) – having an attitude that is not too serious; not worrying about things. Laid-back people tend to experience much less stress in their daily lives.
Think something through – to plan something carefully.
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