Reading and Use of English B2 First
The basics
Your B2 First exam starts with this paper. There are 7 parts – parts 1, 5, 6 and 7 count as Reading and parts 2, 3, 4 are Use of English. If you need help calculating your score, check out my B2 First score calculator.
You get 1 hour and 15 minutes for this paper. If you do the exam on paper, allow some time to pass your answers onto the separate answer sheet as you DO NOT HAVE extra time to do it. While on Digital exams, your score is recorded automatically.
Part 1 – Multiple-choice cloze
You have a short text with 8 gaps and 4 answers to choose from for each gap. This part of the exam tests your knowledge of collocations, set phrases, phrasal verbs, dependent prepositions and so on. The focus is on vocabulary.
Example:
Collocations: do an exam or take an exam
Set phrases: rather than, once upon a time
Phrasal verbs: date back, set up, look for
Dependent prepositions: depends on, scared of
Watch a video showing how to answer this part of the B2 First exam.
Sample test taken from https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-tests/qualifications/first/preparation/#exam-essentials
If you need help with this part of the exam, consider signing up for my B2 language skills course.
If you are looking for a teacher to help you prepare for the exam, I also offer full exam preparation 1:1 – more information here – Boost your B2 First skills programme.
Part 2 – Open cloze
You have a short text with 8 gaps and no answers to choose from this time. This part of the exam tests your knowledge of relative clauses, auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, prepositions, pronouns, articles, quantifiers and so on. The focus is on precision.
Example:
Relative clauses – where, who, that, whom, which
Pronouns – it, myself, them
Quantifiers- some, any, few, many
Articles – a, an, the
Linking words – but, however, and, or
Auxiliary/modal verbs – has, being, might, may, must
Prepositions – in, on, from
Watch a video showing how to answer this part of the B2 First exam.
If you need help with this part of the exam, get my Use of English part 2 booklet – 5 worksheets.
Part 3 – Word formation
You have a short text with 8 gaps and a word next to each gap for you to use to form a NEW WORD. This part of the exam tests your knowledge of word formation of nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs. The focus is on precision. Both American and British spelling is accepted. Don’t forget about plurals and opposites!
Example:
Nouns – PRODUCT – PRODUCER
Adjective – EFFECT – EFFECTIVE
Verb – SURE – ENSURE
Adverb – COMMON – COMMONLY
Watch a video showing how to answer this part of the B2 First exam.
If you need help with this part of the exam, consider signing up for my B2 language skills course.
Grab a copy of my Prefixes and Suffixes list!
Part 4 – Key word transformation
You have six sentences and a KEY WORD. YYou have to express a similar meaning to the first sentence using between 2 and 5 words including the KEY word. You cannot change this word. What is tested in this part is your knowledge of more complex grammatical structures such as conditionals, reported speech, the passive as well as your precision at using collocations, synonymous phrases, phrasal verbs, etc.
Example:
Reported speech
She said: ‘I love you.’ = She said she loved me.
Passive
They invited her to the party. = She was invited to the party.
Collocations
She doesn’t take any notice of what I say. = She doesn’t pay any attention to what I say.
Watch a video showing how to answer this part of the B2 First exam.
Want to know what other areas to study for this part, grab a copy of my Key word transformations checklist!
Need a book that includes all those topics? My Key word transformations book is for you!
To be continued… (I’ll be updating this post as I upload more training videos)