B2 First (FCE) Reading & Use of English

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

Answer all the questions.
You can change your answers at any time during the test.

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

There are 52 questions in this test.
Each question in Parts 1, 2, 3 and 7 carries one mark.
Each question in Part 4 carries up to two marks.
Each question in Parts 5 and 6 carries two marks.

Time limit: 0

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Question 1 of 7

1. Question
Part 1

For questions 1-8, read the text and choose the correct answer for each gap. Click on a gap and a choice of words will appear. Then choose the correct answer.
- Saving the Kakapo
  The kakapo, also known as a “night parrot” or an “owl parrot”, is a very unusual bird. It is the heaviest kind of parrot, weighing two kilograms, and the only one that cannot fly. It is also X recognised described studied thought to be one of the longest-living birds in the world, with a life expectancy of 60 years.
  
  Unfortunately, the kakapo is critically X sensitive dangerous endangered unsafe – there are only around 150 left, living on three islands X off from over apart the coast of New Zealand.Kakapo lived in New Zealand for thousands of years with no natural enemies, but their population X depressed lacked declined ruined sharply with the arrival of humans. They were too slow to X get along get out get away get off from the people, cats and dogs who hunted them. Nowadays, there are X maintenance insurance security conservation projects to save the kakapo from extinction by protecting their habitat, keeping them healthy, and X encouraging recommending suggesting promoting them to breed. Although expert volunteers are welcome on the islands, tourists are X ceased banned defended permitted , so the only way for most people to see a kakapo is on television.
Question 2 of 7

2. Question
Part 2

Read the text. Think of the word which best fits each gap. Write the correct word in each gap (9 – 16).
- Bike Sharing
  More and more people are giving up driving in favour of cycling, which is healthier, cheaper and doesn’t harm the environment. Responding this trend, many governments now offer bike sharing schemes that allow members of the public to rent a bicycle for a short of time. The rental bikes are usually identical, and can be picked and dropped off at stations all over major cities. The schemes have proved very popular, as they allow people to save time and money.
  
  But for those who find cycling hard work, or who need to move a bit faster, there soon be a solution. Electric bicycles, which were previously used for longer journeys and off-road riding, are now starting to appear in urban environments China to the United States. They can be collected from special stations recharge the vehicles when not in use. However, they have been involved in a high number of accidents, many governments are still reluctant to introduce them.

Question 3 of 7

3. Question

Part 3

Read the text. For questions 17 – 24, use the word on the right to form a word that fits in the gap. For each question, write your answer in the gap.

Online Friendship

Keyword List

Can you form a true friendship with someone you’ve never met? A lot of people, older people who didn’t grow up with the internet, would say it’s . But I’ve met people through social media sites that I now consider friends, even though it’s we’ll ever meet in real life. For example, there’s a girl in Indonesia who I’ve known for three years, and who’s given me advice about all kinds of stuff. I don’t know why, but we have a that’s difficult to find with the girls at my school.

I read a news story about an elderly white woman and a young black who became friends after playing an online puzzle game. The company who made the game discovered this, and paid for the two to meet one another! Lots of people downloaded the man’s music after that, which shows how the internet can be.

17 SPECIAL
18 POSSIBLE
19 LIKE
20 PERSON
21 CONNECT
22 MUSIC
23 PLAY
24 POWER

Question 4 of 7

4. Question
Part 4

For questions 25 – 30, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between two and five words, including the word given.
- 25 My boss advised me which computer I should buy.
  GAVE
  My boss choosing a computer.
  
  26 We’ve been standing in this queue for an hour and we still have another hour to wait.
  WAITING
  By the time we get to the front of the queue we two hours.
  
  27 No one was able to explain how the accident happened.
  NOT
  The cause of explained by anyone.
  
  28 The only person to be late was Lucy.
  APART
  Everyone was on time.
  
  29 Hurry up, the show will be starting in a moment.
  ABOUT
  Hurry up, the show start.
  
  30 They decided not to go on holiday after all because the baby was ill.
  BABY’S
  Because they decided not to go on holiday after all.

Question 5 of 7

5. Question

Part 5

You are going to read an article in which a man, Jamie, talks about living in a new country. For each question 31 – 36, choose the correct answer.

A Portuguese Adventure

I never imagined I’d live abroad. Foreign holidays are fine but I’m not what you’d call adventurous; I like familiar things around me. But the things we do for love! At the age of 30, when I’d been married just six months, my wife told me she’d been offered a job in Portugal. And that she wanted to accept it.

As a writer I can work anywhere, so I couldn’t stand in the way of her career as an architect, which seemed to be taking off. So I agreed. We packed up our belongings, advertised our London flat for rent, and one rainy day in October I found myself emerging from Lisbon airport, ready to start a new life.

The first few weeks passed in a blur. It was exciting – new sights, new sounds, new smells – and we had a hundred tasks to do in our new apartment. My wife loved her job. I enjoyed walking around the cobbled lanes, sitting in cosy cafes on my laptop, trying and failing to learn Portuguese. But as the months passed, I realised I was lonely.

“It’s all right for you,” I said to my wife one evening over bacalau à brás (there were times when the incredible food almost made up for the loneliness). “You have your work colleagues, but I don’t know anybody.”

“You’re not trying,” she replied. “I know it’s hard, but you have to make an effort to meet people. Join a club or something. Honestly, you writers!”

There was plenty I could have said to that, but I held my tongue and finished my fish. The truth is, it had not occurred to me that making friends could be a thing you decided to do. I’d known my London friends since university, some of them since school. They’d always just been there. How does a grown man find friends?

I discovered that English-language quizzes were popular in Lisbon. I’ve always loved useless facts, so I forced myself to an event the following week and felt my face redden as I mumbled to the quiz master that I’d like to play, but didn’t know anyone. She smiled widely, told me not to worry, and introduced me to a team of friendly Europeans. And we won! I can’t say I felt completely comfortable, but it was a start. I started going every Thursday and even joined two of my team-mates for another quiz in Portuguese, which helped my language skills a lot.

“You see?” said my wife, at the end of one my funny stories about quiz night. “You just had to take the first step.”

It certainly felt good to know a few people in my adopted city, but it wasn’t long before I hit another wall. I got homesick. I didn’t say anything to my wife at first. It seemed ridiculous, since we were only a two-hour flight from home, and Portugal is hardly Papua New Guinea. But I started to miss the small things. I wanted to buy British newspapers and snacks. I wanted to do everyday tasks in my mother tongue. I wanted to see the street signs and houses I was used to.

Eventually, hesitantly, I brought it up with my wife. I told her I dreamt about London most nights. I confessed my craving for a cheese roll from our local bakery. She started to laugh and then, to my surprise, started to cry. She was missing home too, she admitted, but hadn’t wanted to say anything; after all, she was the one who’d suggested we move. We looked at each other for a long time. Should we give up and go home?

I’m happy to say we didn’t. We just experienced what everyone experiences in a new environment: culture shock. It was helpful to say our worries out loud, give them a name, and realise how normal they were. Living abroad will always be a mixture of good and bad – once we accepted that reality, our Portuguese adventure really began.

31. Which of the following is true about Jamie and his wife?

a – They own a home in London.
b – They got married six months ago.
c – They work in the same profession.
d – They are on holiday in Portugal.

32. When Jamie’s wife says, ‘Honestly, you writers!” she means that writers

a – think they are better than everyone else.
b – spend a lot of time alone because of their work.
c – only want to socialise with other writers.
d – should have a big and varied circle of friends.

33. In paragraph seven, the author suggests that

a – the quiz master thought Jamie was strange.
b – all of Jamie’s team-mates were Portuguese.
c – Jamie was embarrassed going to the quiz alone.
d – the quiz questions were very difficult.

34. In ‘I brought it up with my wife’, ‘it’ refers to the fact that Jamie

a – thought about home a lot.
b – made a new group of friends.
c – found Portuguese hard to learn.
d – started going to quiz nights.

35. What is the main point of the final paragraph?

a – Nobody can truly understand a foreign culture.
b – Living in Portugal was a positive experience for Jamie.
c – Jamie’s wife is more adventurous than him.
d – Moving somewhere new is usually challenging.

36. What do we learn about Jamie from this article?

a – He often speaks without thinking.
b – He wishes he had made a different choice.
c – He tries to overcome the problems he faces.
d – He is rarely willing to compromise.

Question 6 of 7

6. Question

Part 6

You are going to read an extract from a novel, about a woman who is searching for a man she met. Six sentences have been removed from the article. For questions 37 – 42, choose the correct sentence and move it into the gap. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Geeta wasn’t a punctual person, but on that Monday morning she arrived early at the station. She didn’t notice the cold, though winter weather usually bothered her. On the platform she smoothed her trousers and adjusted the leather bag on her shoulder, and then as casually as she could, Geeta looked to her left and right. No, he wasn’t here yet. The man with the brightly coloured socks.The train was still nine minutes away. Geeta pretended to look at her phone as the platform filled with office workers clutching newspapers and coffee cups. Had she missed him? Four minutes. Geeta searched the many ankles, but saw only brown and black. Maybe she would never see him again. Maybe she had imagined their conversation last Friday, and he hadn’t been real at all. One minute.

As the 08:15 service pulled into the station, someone ran clumsily onto the platform, dropping his headphones. Geeta saw a flash of orange and yellow and purple as he bent to pick them up and she blushed, looked away and boarded the train, hoping those socks would walk into the same carriage as her. But they did not. The man was standing up in the next carriage along, headphones returned to his ears, fingers tapping out a rhythm on the metal handrail. Look up, she thought, concentrating on his long face. Look up, look up, look up. And he did.

He remembered her, at least. Geeta waved back but her gesture was small, nervous. How are you? he mouthed. Geeta nodded. Good. And then she wasn’t sure what to do. More than anything, she wanted to continue the brief conversation she had thought about all weekend. Was he really who he said he was – the director of a theatre? Could he truly be interested in her script? It was like a dream come true.

Geeta looked at the floor now, feeling awkward. But no, she was only in love with words; she always had been. As a child she’d filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, song lyrics. She’d entered writing competitions and won. For the last two years of her life, Geeta had poured her heart and soul into this script and she imagined it now, being performed on a stage, with the audience clapping madly. She imagined resigning from the office job she hated. She imagined telling her parents that she’d made it after all, that writing wasn’t just a silly adolescent dream.

While she was imagining this beautiful future life, Geeta heard a beep beep beep and realised in horror that the train was at her stop. She pushed her way to the doors, squeezing through them as they closed, trapping her bag. As she tried to pull it free, a hand reached out to help her – a male hand, with a small cut on one finger, tidy nails, cotton bracelets knotted around his wrist. She hardly dared to hope it was him, but under the beard was a long face, and it was grinning.

“Are you all right?” asked the man with the brightly coloured socks. “I was hoping I’d see you again.”

Geeta stared through the glass between their two carriages.
The man stood up and gestured towards his seat, offering it to Geeta.
Moving her fingers pointlessly over the screen, she wondered: was he among that crowd?
His sleeve was brown wool, and as Geeta followed it up to his shoulder she saw a rebellious beard.
It took him a moment to recognise her, but when he did he waved an amicable wave.
She checked her reflection in the ticket office window: stiff white shirt, black jacket, hair tied up neatly.
If anyone saw how she was acting, they’d think she was in love with him!

Question 7 of 7

7. Question

Part 7

You are going to read about four people’s attitudes towards exercise. For questions 43 – 52, choose the correct section. The sections may be chosen more than once.

Exercise: Natural High or Nightmare?

The Daily Standard interviewed four people about their exercise habits.

Paragraph A
I’m such a stereotype. Last January I made a new year’s resolution to get fit, and I paid for a full year’s gym membership which wasn’t cheap! Of course, I’ve only been a handful of times. People have such good intentions but life gets in the way. I don’t get home from work until seven, and I’m exhausted by that time; all I want to do is sit in front of the TV with a comforting bowl of pasta. Also, let’s be honest, everyone gets bored at the gym. I used to play badminton when I was a teenager, and that was great because I got to hang out with my friends at the same time. I didn’t even notice I was exercising, really, but nowadays I just can’t seem to find the motivation. I should probably start cycling to work instead of driving – that would be an easy way to get in shape.

Paragraph B
I can’t understand people who say they don’t have time to exercise. It’s like saying you don’t have time to eat, or shower, or sleep! Exercise is essential for human health and for me it’s never been optional. I make time for it, even when my schedule is packed. You can always find ways to be active. Take your kids to the park and run around with them, for example, or get off the bus a few stops early and walk the rest of the way. Even cleaning the house helps to burn calories. If you don’t create good habits as a young adult, you’ll suffer when you get older. I think sometimes people just make excuses, because you see the same thing with our modern diet. Nowadays we’d rather throw something in the microwave than take the time to prepare fresh meat and vegetables.

Paragraph C
I was a healthy kid and I think I’m a healthy adult, though I could always do more. I don’t believe in going to the gym – why should I pay to run on a machine, when I can run around my neighbourhood? Sure, it’s tough in the winter months when you’d prefer to stay inside under a blanket, but you don’t have to do a lot of exercise to see an effect. I usually run three times a week, for four or five kilometres each time, and it always has a positive influence on my mood. It helps to have a playlist of songs you love, that will keep you going when you want to stop. And if you really hate running, why not go online and find an exercise video that suits you? There are so many now, from traditional aerobics to Bollywood dancing.

Paragraph D
The problem with exercise is that it’s expensive. People say jogging is free but it isn’t; if you don’t have the right shoes you can hurt your feet, and the right shoes cost money. I went along to my local leisure centre last year to ask about exercise classes but I couldn’t believe it when the receptionist told me the prices! So I suppose I’m quite inactive. I look after my young nephews twice a week and they really wear me out, but that’s the extent of my exercise routine. I don’t think exercise is as important as people say, anyway. I think diet has a much bigger impact on health, and I never eat fast food or chocolate. I make my meals from scratch using whatever fruit and vegetables are cheap at the market.

Which person