Paper format The paper contains three parts, with a range of texts and accompanying comprehension tasks. One part may contain two or more shorter related texts.
Timing 1 hour.
No. of parts 3.
No. of questions 30.
Task types Multiple choice, gapped text, multiple matching.
Text types From the following: newspaper and magazine articles, reports, fiction, advertisements, correspondence, messages, informational material (e.g. brochures, guides, manuals, etc.).
Length of texts Approximately 550–700 words per text. Approximately 2,000 words overall.
Answer format For all parts of this paper, candidates indicate their answers by shading the correct lozenges on the separate answer sheet.
Marks Parts 1 and 2: each correct answer receives 2 marks. Part 3: each correct answer receives 1 mark.
STRUCTURE AND TASKS
PART 1
Task type and focus Multiple choice. Detail, opinion, gist, attitude, tone, purpose, main idea, meaning from context, text organisation features (exemplification, comparison, reference).
Format A text followed by 4-option multiple-choice questions.
No. of Qs 8.
PART 2
Task type and focus Gapped text. Text structure, cohesion and coherence.
Format A text from which sentences have been removed and placed in jumbled order after the text. Candidates must decide from where in the text the sentences have been removed.
No. of Qs 7.
PART 3
Task type and focus Multiple matching. Specific information, detail, opinion and attitude.
Format A text or several short texts preceded by multiplematching questions. Candidates must match prompts to elements in the text.
No. of Qs 15.
PRACTICE TEST 1
PAPER 1: READING
Test1 Part 1 (questions 1–8) (Multiple Choice)
Test1 Part 2 (questions 9-15) (Gapped Text)
Test 1 Part 3 (questions 16-30) (Multiple Matching)
PRACTICE TEST 2
PAPER 1: READING
Test 2 Part 1 (questions 1–8) (Multiple Choice)
Test 2 Part 2 (questions 9–15) (Gapped Text)
Test 2 Part 3 (questions 16–30) (Multiple Matching)
Adapted from the 'FCE Handbook', which is available to order from Cambridge ESOL.