Success at First Certificate [antikvár]

ABOUT THE FIRST CERTIFICATE EXAM The Cambridge First Certificate in English exam is held twice a year in June and December. It consists of five different papers. The exam has a total of 180 marks, and the pass mark is about 100 out of 180. There are five grades. Pass grades are A, B, C and Fail grades are D and E. You are not allowed to use a dictionary during the exam. PAPER 1 READING COMPREHENSION 1 HOUR (40 MARKS) Section A In the first section of this paper you have to answer 25 multiple choice questions. These test your knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and other items like phrasal verbs and prepositions. [Seep. 16 for an example.) When you answer the questions, look carefully at each of the choices you are given. If you find one of the questions difficult, try to work out which of the answers are definitely wrong, and guess the answer from the choices that are left. Never leave a question imanswered. You should aim to spend about 15 minutes on this section and you get one mark for each correct answer. Section B In this section, you are given 15 multiple choice questions based on three reading passages. The questions test your comprehension of different varieties of written English. (See p. 2 for an example.) It is very important to read the questions extremely carefully. Often you will find that more than one answer seems to be right. You must consider all of the answers, and try and decide which one is the best. You should aim to spend about 15 minutes on each passage. Remember that you get TWO marks for each correct answer. The marks for Sections A and B are added up and then tumed into a score out of 40. PAPER 2 COMPOSITION l'/2 HOURS (40 MARKS) In this paper you have to write two different compositions from a choice of topics. You may have to write a letter to a friend, a formal letter, a story, a speech, or give your opinions on a particular subject. If you have studied a set book, one of the questions will give you the chance to write about it. Each composition should be between 120 and 180 words, unless you are told otherwise. Marks are given for organization and content, grammatical accuracy, using correct and suitable vocabulary, and using natural, fluent English. {See FOCUS FOUR of each unit for this paper.) You should aim to spend at least 5 minutes planning each composition, about 30 minutes writing it, and at least 5 minutes checking it. PAPERS USE OF ENGLISH 2 HOURS (40 MARKS) Section A The first exercise of this paper is a cloze test. This is a passage with blanks—you have to fill in each blank with one word only. The best way to do this question is to read the whole passage through once or twice, and then try to fill in the blanks. If you find any blank very difficult, do not waste too much time on it, leave it and come back to it later. (See p. 3 for an example. Note that in earlier units you are given clues to help you approach this exercise.) The second exercise is usually a sentence transformation exercise. This is a set of ten sentences which you have to rewrite so that the meaning does not change. The questions test your knowledge of grammar, and often require you to change sentences from direct to reported speech, active to passive, etc. [See p. 40 for an example.) The remainder of Section A varies. There are often exercises to test word building {see p. 3, Exercise A) or your knowledge of phrasal verbs {see p.38). You may also be asked to write a letter from notes {see p. 54) or to complete a dialogue (see p. 35). Section B This section is a mixture of reading comprehension and composition. You may be given an advertisement, a notice, or some other type of text or diagram. You are usually asked to use the information from the text or diagram to complete several paragraphs which show that you have understood it. (See PARAGRAPH COMPLETION exercises, e.g. p. 5.) Marks for this paper are given mainly for getting the most important pieces of information correctly sorted out; however, grammatical accuracy is also important. You should allow about 45 minutes for Section B. The total number of marks for the paper is 40, about 32 for Section A and 8 for Section B. PAPER 4 LISTENING ABOUT 30 MINUTES |20 MARKS) In this paper, you will usually be given three different types of hstening activity, but these can vary a great deal. The recordings you hear may be telephone conversations, announcements, parts of a radio programme, etc. English will be spoken at normal speed. Usually you will be given one form filling, one multiple choice, and one or more other type of exercise. You will hear each recording twice.