Cambridge First Reading & Use of English part 1

Difficulty level: B2 /Upper Intermediate

This free Cambridge First (FCE) Reading & Use of English Practice Test helps with the grammar
and structure points that you need to master for the FCE.
Choose the best word to fill the spaces.

A first time for everybody

Joe stepped onto the aeroplane and was met by one of the cabin crew who showed him to his seat.

This was his first flight and he was feeling quite nervous. His hands were

slightly and he was breathing deeply. He walked along the of the plane and
found his seat. Joe had spent a lot of time on planning his holiday, given this was the first time he

had been abroad. Sitting next to him was an 8 year-old-boy who also to be
quite nervous. Joe knew he was quite good with children, so he decided to try to calm the boy.

After with the boy for a few minutes, Joe produced some chocolate and

gave it to him. The then became quite cheerful as he explained that he loved
chocolate so much.

The man and the boy found that they well together as they chatted for the whole
flight. Joe discovered that they were on the same return flight the following week, which pleased

them both. When they at the terminal, Joe commented about what a very
good flight he'd had. The young boy agreed, saying that he was looking forward

to Joe again on the return flight.

Cambridge English First (FCE) Reading & Use of English part 2
Difficulty level: B2 /Upper Intermediate
This free Cambridge English First (FCE) Reading & Use of English Practice Test helps with the
grammar and structure points that you need to master for the FCE.
Click in the gaps and type one word in each gap.

Work bank: despite, of, once, and, off, many, more, an.
The Goulburn Valley
The Goulburn Valley is situated in the south-east corner of the Australian continent, in the state of

Victoria. Because the introduction of irrigation over a century ago, primary industry

flourished, resulting in a multitude of orchards market gardens. After World War II,

migrants flocked to the area in search of work on the farms, and in cases,
establishing a property of their own.

Unfortunately, the region has taken a turn for the worse over the past decade. The irrigation water

that was plentiful has now been rationed, and many farmers have been

forced the land. The main source of water is from the Goulburn River, with several
reservoirs located along its stretch to the mighty Murray River. Dam capacities have fallen to

dangerous levels, resulting in some farmers having inadequate supply of irrigation

water.

the recent hardships, some farmers have continued to eke an existence out of the

land. Many have become ingenious, devising new ways to utilize water plus finding
special niches to service the ever-changing urban needs. Perhaps the Goulburn Valley can return
to its prosperous times again.

Cambridge English First (FCE) Reading & Use of English part 3

Read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a word
that fits in the gap in the same line.
Electing, irrigation, Famous, producers, recent, unlikely, majority, systems.

Cambridge English First (FCE) Use of English part 4

This activity helps with the key word transformations section of the Use of English paper.
There are 6 questions in this quiz. 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.

1. You must do exactly what the teacher tells you. carry

You must instructions exactly.

2. So that Susan would be fit for the skiing, she went to the gym three times a week. order
Susan went to the gym three times a week fit for the skiing.
3. It's not worth inviting her to the party. She will never come. point
There in inviting her to the party. She will never come.

4. She had to finish her homework before she went out. until
She had to stay in her homework.

5. Jo had not expected the film to be so good. better

The film had expected.

6. If Patrick does not arrange some more lessons, he will never pass his driving test. does
Patrick will never pass his driving test some more lessons.

Cambridge First (FCE) Reading & Use of English Part 5

Social networks
Business applications
Social networks connect people at low cost; this can be beneficial for entrepreneurs and small
businesses looking to expand their contact base. These networks often act as a customer
relationship management tool for companies selling products and services. Companies can also
use social networks for advertising in the form of banners and text ads. Since businesses operate
globally, social networks can make it easier to keep in touch with contacts around the world.
Medical applications
Social networks are beginning to be adopted by healthcare professionals as a means to manage
institutional knowledge, disseminate peer to peer knowledge and to highlight individual physicians
and institutions. The advantage of using a dedicated medical social networking site is that all the
members are screened against the state licensing board list of practitioners. The role of social
networks is especially of interest to pharmaceutical companies who spend approximately "32
percent of their marketing dollars" attempting to influence the opinion leaders of social networks.
Languages, nationalities and academia
Various social networking sites have sprung up catering to different languages and countries. The
popular site Facebook has been cloned for various countries and languages and some specializing
in connecting students and faculty.
Social networks for social good
Several websites are beginning to tap into the power of the social networking model for social good.
Such models may be highly successful for connecting otherwise fragmented industries and small
organizations without the resources to reach a broader audience with interested and passionate
users. Users benefit by interacting with a like-minded community and finding a channel for their
energy and giving.
Business model
Few social networks currently charge money for membership. In part, this may be because social
networking is a relatively new service, and the value of using them has not been firmly established
in customers' minds. Companies such as MySpace and Facebook sell online advertising on their
site. Hence, they are seeking large memberships, and charging for membership would be counter
productive. Some believe that the deeper information that the sites have on each user will allow
much better targeted advertising than any other site can currently provide. Sites are also seeking
other ways to make money, such as by creating an online marketplace or by selling professional
information and social connections to businesses.
Privacy issues
On large social networking services, there have been growing concerns about users giving out too
much personal information and the threat of sexual predators. Users of these services need to be
aware of data theft or viruses. However, large services, such as MySpace, often work with law
enforcement to try to prevent such incidents. In addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in
relation to placing too much personal information in the hands of large corporations or
governmental bodies, allowing a profile to be produced on an individual's behavior on which
decisions, detrimental to an individual, may be taken.
Investigations
Social network services are increasingly being used in legal and criminal investigations. Information
posted on sites such as MySpace and Facebook, has been used by police, probation, and
university officials to prosecute users of said sites. In some situations, content posted on MySpace
has been used in court.

1 According to the text, social networks .......

are being used by businesses for marketing.
are about friendships.
can damage business reputations.
advertise on business web sites.
2 Why do advertisers like social nework sites?
Detailed information on each user allows targeted ads.
They are cost-effective to advertise on.
Most users have high disposable income.
They can influence consumer behaviour.
3 What does the word 'Few' at the beginning of paragraph 6 mean?
Hardly any
Not any
Some
Only
4 What should users not do on social networks?
be too free with their personal information
download viruses
contact predators
upload copyrighted music
5 Personal information on social network sites .......
can be used in court
gives a good description of the user's personality
is sold to the government
is translated into many languages
6 Social networking is great for ......

groups of people separated over wide areas

academic organisations
people who write too much information about themselves
the law enforcement agencies
Cambridge First (FCE) Reading & Use of English part 6
You are going to read an article about the making of an unusual television commercial. Six
sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one
which fits each gap. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

A Then the falling dominoes head out of the room into the streets, causing progressively larger
objects to tumble.
B These were all chosen to suit the town and fit in with the people’s way of life.
C Getting there involved driving along 48 kilometres of dirt roads and crossing twelve rivers.
D Iruya is situated 3000 metres above sea level and the film crew was not used to working in such
conditions.
E The prop department did construct a small version on site, but most of the work was done in a
studio in London.
F Added to this was the total of one hundred and thirty 'actors' who were recruited from a five
neighbouring towns.
G Not so with the famous Irish drink company Guinness.

The Making of 'Tipping Point'

Many of the most expensive commercials ever made are those in which an A-list celebrity flashes a

beautiful smile at the cameras. Their recent television advertisement, the most
expensive in British history, cost ten million pounds, and it features, not the rich and famous, but
villagers from the mountains of Argentina.

The advertisement features a game of dominoes. It begins in a darkened room where several

thousand ordinary dominoes are set up on a specially-designed table. Dominoes

knock over books, which in turn knock bigger household objects such as suitcases, tyres, pots of
paint, oil drums and even cars. The final piece in the chain reaction is a huge tower of books. These
flutter open to reveal a structure in the shape of a pint of Guinness.

The location chosen for the commercial was Iruya, a village high up in the mountains of north-west

Argentina. The journey there could take up to ten hours. Asked why this remote
destination was chosen for the shoot, the director said that even though it was the most difficult
location they could have picked, it was perfect.

For one month, the village, population thousand, increased in size by almost thirty percent. One
hundred and forty crew members descended on the village. These included the world record

holders in domino toppling, Weijers Domino productions from the Netherlands.

Creating this film was no easy task. Preparations for filming took well over a month. Twenty six

truckloads of objects were brought in. They included 10,000 books, 400 tyres, 75
mirrors, 50 fridges, 45 wardrobes and 6 cars. Setting the objects up took skill and patience. They
needed to be arranged so they would fall over easily, and this involved balancing them on stones.
Some of the sequences had to be reshot 15 times and 24 hours of footage was captured. However,
the sequence in which six cars fell over was successfully shot in just one take.

Filming in this location was not without its difficulties. Firstly, being so isolated, it was hard to obtain

resources at short notice. The second problem was the high altitude. It was also
hard working with the villagers who had no experience of film-making. Finally, setting and resetting
the props caused a good deal of frustration.

Director Nicolai Fuglsig said about the project : ‘Despite all the challenges, the cast was fantastic
and it was a really amazing experience.’ Whether or not the effort put into the advert pays off is
another matter entirely.

Cambridge First Reading & Use of English part 7

You are going to read an article in which four people comment on a book they have read recently.
For questions 1-10, choose from the people A-D. The people may be chosen more than once.
A
Sundance by Teresa Wilson

Kerry:

I really don't know why this book is so popular. I mean, I suppose it is going to appeal to young girls
who want danger and romance, but I found this book really tedious. For a start, the characters were
really unconvincing. The author went out of her way to add lots of details about the characters, but I
found these details really pointless. I thought that some of the facts she presented about the main
characters would become significant in some way later in the novel, but they didn't. They were just
worthless bits of information. I also was disappointed that, although this book is meant to be about
kids at high school, the writer seems to have no recollection at all about what it's like to be 17. The
main character thought and acted like a 32-year old. It just wasn't believable. I'm not saying Teresa
Wilson is a bad writer. She can obviously string words together and come up with a story that is
appealing to a large number of people, but she lacks anything original. There is no flair. It just uses
the same sort of language as you can see in many other mediocre novels.

B
Wild Ways by Margery Emerson

Liz:

I have to say that I won't forget this book for a long time. I was hooked from the very first chapter.
The devastating story affected me so much that I don't know if I'll ever feel the same again. I was
close to tears on several occasions. I've got images in my brain now that I don't think will ever leave
me. It's incredibly well-researched and, although it is fiction, is based on shocking real-life events. I
learned an awful lot about things that went on that I never knew before. Margaret Emerson has a
brilliant way with words and I really felt real empathy towards the characters, although I was
sometimes irritated by the choices they made. However, the parallel story, the part that is set in the
present, is not quite so good. I found myself just flicking through that part so that I could get back to
1940s Paris.

C
Orchid by Henry Rathbone
Imogen:

This is a delightful novel full of wonderful imagery, a paints a remarkable picture of life in a distant
time and a far-away place. If you're looking to learn about Eastern culture in great detail, then this is
probably not the book for you, as the writer skims over most of the more complicated aspects of the
country's etiquette. The historical aspects are also not covered in much depth. However, I wonder
whether this was the writer's intention. By doing this, he symbolise the superficiality of the girl's life.
She, like the book, is beautiful and eager to please, but remains too distant from us, the readers, to
teach us much. Although I loved the book and read it in one sitting, the ending was a bit of a
disappointment. A story which involves so much turmoil, in a place where the future is uncertain,
should not have a happy-ever-after fairy-tale ending.

D
High Hills by Mary Holland

Hannah:

I read this book for a literature class. I know it's a classic, and I did try to like it, but I just didn't get
into it. I kept persevering, hoping that I'd start to enjoy it, but no such luck. The famous scene out on
the moors was definitely the best bit of the book, but even that I found ridiculous when it is clearly
supposed to be passionate. As I approached the end of the book, I figured there must be some kind
of moral to the story, something that I would learn from the experience of trudging through seven
hundred long pages, but there was nothing worthwhile. I don't know why the literary world sees this
book as such a masterpiece. The characters are portrayed as being intelligent, but they do such
stupid things! And as for it being a love story - marrying someone you don't love and then being
abused by them - that doesn't spell love to me.

Which person read a book which... Hannah- Imogen- Liz- Kerry

1. was set in an Oriental country

2. finished in an unrealistic way

3. had characters that the reader could sympathise with

4. is well-known and was written a long time ago

5. contained two stories

6. was not set in the past

7. was historically accurate

8. made the reader cry

9. contained insignificant details

10. has a well-known scene