FCE Use of English Part 4, Test 18

Answers and explanations

1. Regret (about) not seeing. The verb pattern of ‘regret’ requires a gerund (an -ing form). If you regret something it means you are sorry you have made some choice in the past and are not happy with the consequences.
2. Not nearly as bad as. The keyword forces us to use a comparative ‘as … as’ structure, there is no way around it. Note that the negative form is required here.
3. Let his parents down. If you let somebody down, you fail to meet their expectations or make them feel disappointed for some other reason.
4. Are yet to find. ‘Yet to do something’ means that you haven’t done it yet, but you are planning on doing it. We cannot simply put “yet” at the end of the sentence – it would work grammatically, but in FCE Use of English Part 4 we are only allowed to make changes in the designated gap.
5. First time ever I see. Be careful not to answer ‘First time ever I am seeing’ – while the meaning remains the same, you are breaking the five word limit for the answer – a common pitfall that many students tend to forget about.
6. Told/advised/warned to mind my step. The keyword here is a hint for a regular infinitive form of the phrase. You get some freedom of choice with the verb here. Be careful to spell “correctly”. Remember that ‘advise’ is the verb, whereas ‘advice’ is the noun.
7. Come up with. A phrasal verb that means ‘to think of something new, to invent something’.
8. Are expected to. Here we talk about a cultural rule, in other words, something that people normally do. If you are expected to do something, it means that it is what people normally do.
9. Had (his) doubts about taking. While ‘his’ is optional here, we shouldn’t be using ‘some doubts’ as it is not part of the original sentence. While ‘his’ isn’t either, it is a common part of the phrase, e.g. ‘I have my doubts about this’.
10. In addition to visiting. The structure ‘in addition to’ is normally accompanied by an -ing form when we talk about an action. Therefore, it goes either ‘in addition to something’ or ‘in addition to doing something’.