5 silly mistakes you can make on your B2 First exam

and how to avoid them so that you don’t lose points.

Don’t let silly mistakes take away your hard-earned points. 
There are only 28 points on Use of English so they are very valuable.

You forget to write a name

Just finished a class with a student. We were calculating her score when she admitted to making this mistake. 

I would have had 2 points but I had written HER instead of KATE. 

So in Use of English part 4, the key word transformations, sometimes there is a name in the original sentence. Make sure the name is present in your transformed sentence, too.

Here is the example:

‘Would you like to come to my event, Kate?’ the man said.

INVITED

WRONG The man INVITED HER TO COME to his event.

CORRECT The man INVITED KATE TO COME to his event.

Remember: when we transform the sentences in Part 4, we have to express the complete meaning of the original sentence.

Spelling

Make sure you know how to spell correctly!  As it is important on parts 2, 3, and 4 of Use of English.

However, if you can’t remember the British spelling and there’s an American alternative, it will be accepted as correct, so no worries.  BOTH types of spelling are accepted on the exam.

A few examples of some differences. 

Not the same tense

You are losing easy points by NOT USING THE SAME TENSE. 

This happens with the PASSIVE in Use of English part 4.

You have to use the SAME TENSE. 

Let’s see an example:

Social media is changing our brains. (the verb is in present continuous)

ARE

WRONG Our brains ARE CHANGED BY social media. (the verb is in present simple of the passive)

CORRECT Our brains ARE BEING CHANGED BY social media. (the verb is in present continuous of the passive)

Probably, REPORTED SPEECH is confusing you, as there you HAVE TO CHANGE the tense. 

If these concepts are still difficult for you, you can grab a copy of my Key word transformations book or just an individual worksheet on the PASSIVE and another on REPORTED SPEECH.

You are too smart

You know too much! You know two answers and you want to write them both. Don’t!

When asked for ONE WORD and for some reason you know TWO CORRECT ANSWERS, only choose 1. 

Let’s say you have to provide the preposition for DIFFERENT and you know that it is okay to say FROM and TO.

DO NOT write both answers! You are going to lose a point!!!

WRONG Some shops are different FROM/TO the ones that we have where I live.

CORRECT Some shops are different FROM the ones that we have where I live.

CORRECT Some shops are different TO the ones that we have where I live.

Trying to outsmart the exam

You change your answers based on the variety of letters that you have on the answer sheet.

Let’s say in Part 1 you have too many As or Bs, you decide to change a perfectly correct answer just because it doesn’t seem right to have so many repeated letters.

Answers are distributed RANDOMLY so don’t play with them. Choose the one that you believe is correct and there’s no other secret tip. 

Good luck on your exams!

Gaby

If you need extra practice, check out the Self-study section or the Shop for Worksheets to download.

If you prefer to work with a teacher, contact me!