A short text with gaps and a choice of words for each. It looks like a vocabulary test, and it is scored under Reading at every level, but most items turn on the words around the gap: collocation, fixed phrases and the grammar that follows a word.
| Exam | Paper and part | Questions | Marks | Counts towards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A2 Key | Reading and Writing, Part 4 | Q19-24 | 6 × 1 | Reading |
| B1 Preliminary | Reading, Part 5 | Q21-26 | 6 × 1 | Reading |
| B2 First | Reading and Use of English, Part 1 | Q1-8 | 8 × 1 | Reading |
| C1 Advanced | Reading and Use of English, Part 1 | Q1-8 | 8 × 1 | Reading |
| C2 Proficiency | Reading and Use of English, Part 1 | Q1-8 | 8 × 1 | Reading |
| Exam | Part | Gaps | Options per gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| A2 Key | Part 4 | 6 | 3 |
| B1 Preliminary | Part 5 | 6 | 4 |
| B2 First | Part 1 | 8 | 4 |
| C1 Advanced | Part 1 | 8 | 4 |
| C2 Proficiency | Part 1 | 8 | 4 |
The four options are usually close in meaning. Only one fits the collocation (make a decision, not do one), the dependent preposition (interested in), or the structure that follows (suggest doing, not suggest to do).
A complete multiple-choice cloze task at B2 First level. Work it with the answers closed, then open the key.
For questions 1–8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0): A had, B spent, C lived, D passed. The answer is A, and it is shown in the text.
The return of the night train
Not long ago, it looked as though the sleeper train had (0) had its day. With cheap flights available to almost anywhere, one overnight service after another (1) to an end, and few people seemed to miss them.
Now, however, the night train is enjoying something of a (2). New routes are being launched across Europe, and tickets for the most popular journeys often sell out weeks in (3). The reasons are partly environmental, since a long train journey produces only a (4) of the emissions of the equivalent flight. But passengers also talk about something that is harder to (5): the simple pleasure of falling asleep in one country and waking up in another, with no queues at security and no long trip out to an airport. (6) the fact that the journey takes far longer, many travellers feel they actually save time, because they arrive rested and right in the centre of town.
The trains themselves have (7) a long way, too. Narrow, uncomfortable bunks are gradually being replaced by modern cabins, some with their own washbasin. Tickets are not always cheap, but for a growing number of people, the experience is well (8) the money.
Answer key
1. A — The fixed expression is ‘come to an end’. ‘Reach’ can collocate with ‘an end’, but it takes a direct object (‘reached its end’), so it cannot be followed by ‘to’.
2. A — ‘Enjoy something of a revival’ means become popular again, which is what the rest of the paragraph describes. You can ‘make a return’, but not ‘enjoy a return’ with this meaning, and ‘renewal’ and ‘restoration’ describe renewing or repairing something, not a rise in popularity.
3. C — ‘In advance’ means ‘before the time’, so the tickets sell out weeks before the journey. ‘Ahead’ has a similar meaning but is not used after ‘in’, and ‘in front’ refers to position, not time.
4. D — ‘Only a fraction of’ means a very small amount compared with something else, which is the comparison the writer makes with flying. ‘Piece’, ‘section’ and ‘segment’ all describe a part cut from a whole, not an amount compared with something else, and none of them is used with ‘emissions’.
5. B — The writer contrasts emissions, which can be measured, with a pleasure, which is ‘harder to measure’. You count separate things, such as passengers, not a feeling, and ‘weigh’ and ‘score’ do not fit the idea of putting a value on an experience.
6. B — ‘Despite’ is followed by a noun phrase, here ‘the fact that …’. ‘Although’ has the right meaning but needs a clause (‘Although the journey takes …’), and ‘However’ cannot join the two parts of the sentence.
7. C — ‘Come a long way’ is a fixed expression meaning ‘improved a great deal’, which the next sentence explains. ‘Go a long way’ means ‘be very useful’, and ‘travelled a long way’ would only describe a real journey, not an improvement.
8. B — ‘Well worth the money’ means it is good value even though it is expensive, which fits the contrast with ‘not always cheap’. ‘Deserving’ and ‘equal’ need a preposition (‘deserving of’, ‘equal to’).
The same task type at other levels: B1 Preliminary, C1 Advanced, A2 Key, C2 Proficiency.
More practice at every level is on the Cambridge Reading samples page. The whole section in context is on the Cambridge Reading page, and how it is marked is on the scoring page.
Written by Kirill O'Nayd
English test expert and educator at TestSucceed. He has spent years preparing candidates for Cambridge English Qualifications from A2 Key to C2 Proficiency, and taking apart how each paper awards its marks. See all TestSucceed preparation materials.