Answers and explanations
- Will take/Will be taking place. Both options stick to the general meaning of the original sentence. Note that ‘will be taking’ is a more formal way to convey the idea, and it emphasises the fact that the event has been planned in advance.
- Beat the rival team. ‘Beat’ is an irregular verb that has both the first and second forms identical – the main challenge of this transformation.
- The car was so high. We are looking for ‘of the’ structure here, as dictated by the first part of the transformed sentence. Be mindful not to answer ‘was too high’ as we are looking for a comparative structure to stick to the original meaning.
- Has any difficulty talking. Do not use a double negative structure, e.g. ‘Never has no difficulty’ as grammatically it is incorrect, even though you can see it used in movies as a dialect.
- Have the flat vacuumed by. The structure highlights the fact that somebody else is carrying out the action – the housemaid in this case.
- Very little/Almost nothing in common. A phrase ‘to have in common’ fits the idea of showing similarities (or lack of said similarities) between somebody or something.
- Michael lacks the bravery. Answering ‘Michael does not have the bravery’ is grammatically acceptable, but it exceeds the imposed word limit. This limitation is often forgotten by the test-takers, so keep that factor in mind.
- Nobody brought up. If you bring something up, you mention or discuss it. Be ready to see at least a couple phrasal verb transformation in your FCE Use of English Part 4 exam task.
- To come round for. To visit, especially for a particular occasion such as a meal or a celebration. Pay attention to the fact that despite using reported speech, we do not make the switch to the past tense – using ‘invited’ is enough in this case.
- Hardly had any chances. The adverb ‘hardly’ introduces the negative aspect needed in the transformation, so ‘any’ has to included as well.
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