ACADEMY OF JOURNALISM AND COMMUNICATION
Faculty of Foreign Languages
-------------------------
TECHNIQUES IN COMPLETING A C1-LEVEL TEST
(AN ASSIGNMENT ON ADVANCED ENGLISH)
By: Nguyen Xuan Hieu - ETE 40
Supervisor: Nguyen Huu Hoang
Nguyen Quang Khang
HANOI, 2021
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1
1.1. Rationale: ........................................................................................................ 1
1.2. Aim of the study: .............................................................................................. 1
1.3. Limitation of the study: .................................................................................... 1
1.4. Methods of the study: ....................................................................................... 1
2.PAPER ONE: READING AND USE OF ENGLISH (60 minutes) .................... 2
2.1. Part 1 (Multiple-choice cloze) (8qs/8ps) .......................................................... 2
2.2. Part 2 (Open cloze) (8qs/8pts).......................................................................... 3
2.3. Part 3 (Word formation) (8qs/8pts) .................................................................. 4
2.4. Part 4 (Key word transformations) (6qs/12pts) ............................................... 4
2.5. Part 5 (Multiple choice) (6qs/12pts) ................................................................ 5
2.6. Part 6 (Gapped text) (6qs/12pts) ...................................................................... 6
3. PAPER TWO: WRITING (45 minutes) ............................................................. 7
4. PAPER THREE: LISTENING COMPREHENSION (40 minutes) ................... 9
(CD attached) .............................................. Ошибка! Закладка не определена.
4.1. PART 1 (9 points) Questions 43-48 (3 extracts) ............................................. 9
4.2. PART 2 (12 points) Questions 49-56 ............................................................. 10
4.3. PART 3 (9 points) Questions 57-62 ............................................................... 11
4.4. PART 4 (20 points) Questions 63-72 ............................................................. 11
5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 13
6. References ......................................................................................................... 13
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale:
English language exams have grown in importance over the years as more
individuals live, study and work overseas. For non-English native speakers, these
English language exams are used to determine the level of proficiency and
provide a means to compare fluency among individuals.
The CAE (Cambridge Advance English) exam is perfect for this as it is a widely
recognised certificate in English from one of the most prestigious English exam
boards. Furthermore, it is an advanced certificate which means you not only have
the English abilities to get by in an English-speaking nation, but you can talk with
ease and confidence on a variety of subjects.
1.2. Aim of the study:
The study's goal is to comprehend, as well as devise an appropriate method for
learners to confront the C1 Advanced Exam all four skill formats in an easy and
intelligent manner, while also to gain more in-depth understanding from the
sample test.
1.3. Limitation of the study:
The study is for the people who want to know what the CAE exam involves, what
techniques will help to pass it, also explore the task and how to prepare for it
before offering a few ideas which should help raise awareness of what is tested in
the CAE exam.
1.4. Methods of the study:
In this study, there are 2 main methods that used to contribute to the study:
identifying and analysing.
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2.PAPER ONE: READING AND USE OF ENGLISH (60 minutes)
2.1. Part 1 (Multiple-choice cloze) (8qs/8ps)
This section tests how well the candidates understand individual words, their
specific meanings and how we use them. It is better to read the text quickly to
understand the topic, style and tone of the piece because it's really useful to know
the context before you start answering the questions.
It is sometimes very tricky this part, you have to decide which is best in the
context of the meaning of the sentence, my technique is to find the first gap then
read the whole sentence before and after the gap, identify the key words and
what type of words they are, check the correct type of word but also check
that the meaning of my word makes sense in the sentence because the four
options often have very similar meanings. For example, in the question 1 where
all 4 choices somehow fit for the answer, I find the previous sentence referring to
“a range of impressive movements ” that the Hollywood star performs, the phrase
“Somehow” is the key word providing that this person has to be making the
movements “look easy”, not finding or causing any, because of that I chose D.
makes for question 1. This technique also depends on the meaning of the
individual words. Let’s look at question 8, the phrase that makes sense in the
sentence “The sight of a safety net helped me…the worst of my fears”is “deal
with”. We have the prefix “over” (too much or more than enough ~ pass the
limit) in all 4 options, now we base on the meaning of the original word, look at
the gap and find out which word similar to it, then the only option is the word B.
overcome which means “to deal with”
My another technique in this part is to base on my knowledge of collocations.
Fortunately, question 2 is an example of collocation, we have a collocation with
“rare” and the only option that suitable is B. phenomenon.
I applied these techniques on this part and get the following answers:
2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
D
B
C
D
C
A
C
C
2.2. Part 2 (Open cloze) (8qs/8pts)
In the CAE Use of English Part 2 “Open cloze”, candidates will given a short text
with 8 gaps in it. You need to complete each gap with only one word and in ALL
CAPITAL LETTERS, not including abbreviations or contractions. The
completed sentence needs to make sense both grammatically and in the context as
a whole. All of the missing words will either be very common grammatical items,
such as articles, auxiliary verbs, prepositions or pronouns, or key vocabulary
words in the context of the text. These can include parts of a phrasal verb, a
linking word, or a word in a fixed expression.
My tip I suggest that you pay attention to the clauses and words around each
gap as these will usually help you identify which part of speech is missing.
For instance, number 10 we have the word “than”, which should be a
comparative sentence. Now there are suitable options: more or less. Let’s
consider the previous sentence, it says “the ultimate jazz festival” so it should be
over the number of musicians. Therefore, the perfect answer is MORE. In
number 12, the missing word is standing after a person name and a comma:
“Marcin Krajewski,” so I filled WHO to accomplish a relative clause. Number
13 is an prepositions before a noun phrase so the word “WITH” is suitable for
the final answer.
There are also some grammar structures and collocations or phrasal verbs appear
in the question. In number 9, we can know what kind of grammar structure
depending on the past tense “were” and past of modal “would”, which belong to
the conditional sentence type 2 so the missing word is IF. In number 11,
depending on the knowledge of collocation, we have a fixed expression “ON
hand”.
After applying the technique, I got the following answers:
3
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
IF
MORE
ON
WHO
WITH
NOT
BUT
THEN
2.3. Part 3 (Word formation) (8qs/8pts)
The third part of the Reading and Use of English paper in the C1 Advanced
Examination is word formation, it consists of a short text with 8 gaps with an
additional gap as an example at the beginning. The candidate has to complete
each gap with the correct form of the stem word, which appears in capitals at the
end of the line. This part tests your knowledge of how words are formed in
English, including the use of prefixes and suffixes and spelling rules associated
with these changes.
Before going to identify the word form, I would read the whole passage quickly
for an overall idea because that really helps me to understand the context and
figure out the correct answers. Then I look at the gap and surrounding texts,
try to analyze what category of this word and guess which appropriate
affixes might be fit into.
For example, number 17 has the stem word “HELP”, look at the previous
sentence, we find out a parallel structure with the word “and” accompany with an
adjective “lazy”, which brings a negative meaning. Therefore, the answer is an
adjective with negative form of the given word, UNHELPFUL. Now look at
number 19 and 22 also, we need a noun following the preposition “in”, so it will
be AGREEMENT and ANALYSIS.
Having followed the technique throughout the whole question, I got the answer:
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
unhelpful domestically agreement evaluate typical analysis relaxation ability
2.4. Part 4 (Key word transformations) (6qs/12pts)
The Key Word Tansformation task contains 6 questions, each question consists of
a lead in sentence, and a second gapped sentence. The gapped sentence must be
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completed using between 3 and 6 words. The word in capitals must be used and
the form of the word cannot change. This part tests your ability to paraphrase
through your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. A wide range of language
could be tested here, however some patterns appear quite often.
My technique is to identify what content from the 1st sentence has already
been included in the 2nd sentence. Now we know what we don’t need to change,
circle or highlight the content in the 1st sentence that we are going to be
transforming with the key word. Finally, complete the 2nd sentence with a
similar meaning to the 1st sentence using between three and six words.
For example number 25, we can to change the word “ignored” into didn’t notice
but it requires more than three words, so I use the word notice as a noun and use
the collocation take notice of. As we need to paraphrase this from the word
“ignored” above, the answer will be TOOK NO NOTICE OF. In number 28, I
find out there is a grammatical inversion At no point that is used after some
negative phrases, so it would be AT NO POINT WAS I TOLD
My final answers:
25 TOOK NO NOTICE OF
26 TO PUT UP WITH LATENESS
27 A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE
28 NO POINT WAS I TOLD
29 MUST HAVE MADE
30 HAVE NOT BEEN IN TOUCH
2.5. Part 5 (Multiple choice) (6qs/12pts)
Part 5, the Multiple Choice, consists of six multiple-choice questions with four
options each. This part focuses on the understanding of a long text, including
detail, opinion, tone, purpose, main idea, implication, attitude, and also text
organisation features such as the use of examples, comparison and reference.
So what I’m going to do is read the text first before attempting to answer any
questions. Read each question, find and underline the part of the text which
answers the question. The answers to the questions will generally follow in the
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same order in the text. Finally, find evidence in the text to justify my chosen
answer.
In number 31, we might don’t know what the meaning of “the brief” is, we just
know its range has been extended. However, in the first paragraph, we can see the
use of cameras developed from “reserved for holidays and children’s birthdays”
to “taking pictures of a hotel sink…”; as result, it shows that “the brief” means
B.the things people take photographs of. With the question about the writer’s
feeling such as number 36, I’m going to find the key word that express
emotions. Luckily, they have already highlighted these key words of the four
options, now I just have to look around and find which one will describe the
feeling of the writer. Finally, I figure out that the background of the sentence
“Will my kids end up deeply jaded too” refers to the writer’s feeling: D.jaded
My final answers:
31
32
33
34
35
36
B
D
C
D
C
D
2.6. Part 6 (Gapped text) (6qs/12pts)
Gapped text is a long text which has had 6 paragraphs removed from it. The
candidate’s task is to fit those 6 paragraphs into the text in the correct place. The
gapped text task tests the CAE candidate’s knowledge of the overall structure of a
text as well as the linguistic devices which bind a text together. In order to
compete the task successfully, candidates must analyse both the macro and
microstructure of the text through an understanding of general flow of discourse
throughout combined with the local structure of words, phrases and paragraphs.
This type of question is consider the most challenging for me personally because
it is one of the most time-consuming and difficult parts of the Reading paper.
However, these are my recommendations:

Read the whole text first before attempting to answers any questions. This
will give me an idea of the overall structure.
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
Read the paragraphs to get a general idea of the topic of each one.

Look out for cohesive devices that help link ideas. These could be things
like time phrases, cause and effect or contrasting linking words and
expressions, pronouns or synonyms that refer forwards or backwards in the
text.

Make sure any chosen paragraph fits both with what comes before and
after. You will often find one that flows logically from the preceding
paragraph but which does not fit coherently with the following paragraph.
For example, the previous paragraph of number 37 shows a question “Well, isn’t
it?, so the answer will be some kind of reply to it, therefore I choose E “True, the
English language is changing”. With number 38 paragraphs mentions "New
technology is going around the world more rapidly than it ever could have done
before," I can figure out the answer implied "This is all happening at high speed"the paraphrase version of it, so I choose C for number 38. In number 40 where it
mentions “appreciative reaction” is the key words, therefore the text A exist in
order to give an examples with the purpose to “emphasise the true sense of their
messages”.
My final answers:
37
38
39
40
41
42
E
C
F
A
G
B
3. PAPER TWO: WRITING (45 minutes)
Task 2
Write your answer in 220–260 words in an appropriate style. In the exam write
your answer on a separate answer sheet.
Your college wants to modernise your college canteen. The principal has asked
students for a proposals for areas that need improvement, suggesting what should
be done and giving reasons for their recommendations.
Write your proposal in 220–260 words
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 So what is a proposal?
A proposal starts by describing the situation in a business, school, club, or other
organisation you might be part of. For example, you might have to talk about the
computer room in your college or the state of the canteen in your office. Sounds
like a report. A report distinguishes from a proposal in that the latter requires us
to provide recommendations for changing the situation; a proposal will have more
scope for making suggestions and more need for polite persuasive language.
 This is my outline for this task:
Introduction: To begin, I will write a brief introduction with similar idea of
service and food qualities, as this is a proposal so I will include an opinion on
how the changes might affect school
Body 1 or Recommendation:
I will stick to only 2 ideas for easier organize and time-saving. Most modernize
focus on services and convenient, therefore my recommendation should be
something that includes new change in it and also healthy for college students
Body 2 or Reasons:
At this part I will explain my choice and bring up some description, explain their
affect in most aspect of my college, the current situation of the college and others
problem and how it can help fix it.
Conclusion: A brief overall of the changes and my own opinion
 Writing a proposal:
Introduction:
The purpose of this proposal is to draw your attention regarding the school
canteen. It must be maintained in a good way. The canteen and the way it is being
maintained its good, but I would love to give some suggestions and make it
better, as most of the students have lunch in the canteen.
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Recommendation:
- The seating arrangement in the canteen should be improved.
- The hygiene and preparation of food have to be cleaner.
- The bigger size of the plate in which the food is being served
Reasons:
There are a lack of chairs and tables, thus the students have to stand and eat our
food. It becomes quite difficult, as we can not hold our books to study.The food
and drinks are not covered in a good condition. Furthermore, the washing and
drinking water facility areas for the utensils must be located away from the
kitchen or else it will pollute the food as well as the drinks. Both rice and bouillon
cannot fit on the same plate. Now, we even have to fit the vegetables, which is
quite difficult. It would be nice if bigger plates are provided.
Conclusion:
I hope that conditions at the canteen will improve. The canteen should provide
better amenities. There should also be a different daily menu so that students will
not have to taste the same food day in and day out. Cleanliness should be given
top priority.
4. PAPER THREE: LISTENING COMPREHENSION (40 minutes)
4.1. PART 1 (9 points) Questions 43-48 (3 extracts)
In Part 1 of CAE Listening, candidates will hear three short recordings of
conversations. For each conversation, you will have to answer two multiplechoice questions, making for a total of six questions for this section. You can
expect to be asked about the gist, or the main point, of the conversation. Here, my
tips is important to listen carefully in order to understand what the main topic
really is, as the available choices may confuse you. You may be asked about
specific details in the conversation. Reading the questions and answers is vital
as you will discover what information you should look out for. You may also be
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asked about a person’s attitude or whether the two people agree or disagree. This
may not be explicitly stated but expressed indirectly in the conversation. In the
first part of the CAE Listening, you will have to demonstrate your ability to
understand the meaning of common English expressions and phrases.
For example, in extract one, the woman first says “I felt my face go red”and after
that, the man tells the woman “You don’t want to humiliate yourself in front of
people”. Therefore, they both refer to the feeling of embarrassment (B) and this is
the answer of number 43.
Having listened carefully to the three extracts, I got the following answers:
43
44
45
46
47
48
B
C
A
B
A
A
4.2. PART 2 (12 points) Questions 49-56
This section of the CAE Listening involves listening to a speech of around 3
minutes and finding the correct word or phrase to complete a sentence. You
will have to fill in the gaps in 8 sentences. As in the other sections, it is important
to read ahead so that you know what kind of information to look out for. Now
take a look at number 49, what we need here is a verb in past form, listen to the
audio, he says : “discover why it had suddenly melted” , therefore, I instantly
recognize that the solution to this one is melted
You can also improve your chances of success by crossing out the answers
which are unlikely to be applicable. You can do this by identifying the overall
theme of the monologue that you will hear, which you can do by going over the
headline and sentences that you must complete. Once you shorten the list of likely
answers, it will be easier for you to find the correct one. For example, number 51
needs a noun to fill in the blank. While the audio says “Spencer sent a boy out to
buy some popcorn. He placed the kernels near the magnetron tube”, it is a bit
confusing between the word “popcorn” and “kernels”; to be more clearly, I
choose “popcorn” because it is mentioned before “kernels”.
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Having listened carefully to the audio, I got the following answers:
49
melted
53
a restaurant
50
mass-producing
54
a competition
51
popcorn
55
meat
52
exploded
56
counter
4.3. PART 3 (9 points) Questions 57-62
In Part 3 of CAE Listening, candidates will have to listen to a longer interview or
discussion. This can be up to 4 minutes in length. This section can be difficult for
me as it’s the longest part of the CAE, but usefully the questions are asked in the
same order that the conversation takes place. I'll still read the question and
underline the keyword, then examine the question and try to identify distinctions
between them. I will try to identify what I believe is the proper answer the first
time I listen, and then confirm it the second time.
For example, number 57 key phrase is:“So here I am, coming out on the radio as
probably the only balding middle-aged man on the entire planet to take up ballet
lessons. Go on, snigger”. Hence the answer has to be he anticipated to be laughed
at, so the solution is B. Next we have number 60, I can hear him say: “engage
your body and brain at the same time”, which relates to both physical and mental
effects, thus my response is B.
Having listened carefully to the audio, I got these answers:
57
58
59
60
61
62
B
A
D
B
C
C
4.4. PART 4 (20 points) Questions 63-72
This section of the test is often the toughest for me. Candidates will hear five
short monologues and will have to answer ten questions. These questions are
divided into two parts. You will be given lists, which you will have to match with
what the speakers are saying. My suggestion is skim through all of the questions
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and highlight some alternatives that are easy to remember or paraphrase in both
parts while listening to them both at the same time. If I miss them, I'll go on to the
next speaker rather than guessing and returning to it later, as the recording is
played twice.
For number 63 and 68 (Speaker 1), the first time I hear: "a lot of people think
he's an absolute pain" and "he's always going on about himself" my first
impression is that the Speaker 1 is referring to is very full of himself and quite
haughty. "I know another side of him, the kind side that means he'll do anything
for a friend" Speaker 1 adds later : “And he's done me a lot of favors, so I stand
by him" and the second phrase is "loyalty", so the answer for number 63 is G,
and the solution for number 68 is C.
Number 65 and 70 (Speaker 3) come next, and for the first time I hear: "One
time you're with him, he's cheerful and sociable, the next time he sits quietly in
the corner and doesn't want to speak to anyone", which is comparable to
unpredictability in mood, particularly unexpected periods of gloominess or
sullenness. Later, Speaker 3 adds, "to be honest, it gets on my nerves". That is,
she can't stand being around him because of his moodiness. As a result, my
solutions are E and H
Number 66 and 71 (Speaker 4), I can hear he describes a person by complaining:
“always finding fault with things – nothing’s ever good enough for him”. Later
on, he spit out the truth that he find it“hilarious”. Basing on the keyword, he tries
to criticize the person and find it amusing eventually. Therefore, my answers for
66 is A and 71 is D.
Having listened carefully to the audio twice, I got the following answers:
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
G
C
E
A
H
C
F
H
D
A
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5. Conclusion
That would be all the strategies. I did all of the previous papers in the exam
(except Speaking part) and it worked well at last. I found out I still have to
practice a lot on the Gapped text part 6 of Paper 1 (Reading and Use of English). I
had most of them wrong on that first attempt. I would also have to do many
Listening part 4 exercises (Paper 3) as well. The difficulty of this is because I’m
not familiar with several expressions, some of them very British.
To sum up, the first four parts in Reading and Use of English weren’t too hard, I
finished it in half an hour on the first try. I wish all the practice tests had been like
that. However, I took almost the exact time to finish part 5 (Multiple choice) and
part 6 (Gapped text) as I used my timer. I think I did well with Writing, I felt
relaxed. I hope my results of the actual test were as good as I felt when taking this
test.
6. References
1. Exams and tests C1 Advanced, https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/
2. Faculty of Foreign Languages, Course-end Essay Code: 001
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