What’s in the Reading and Writing paper?
The Cambridge English: Preliminary Reading and Writing paper has five parts about reading and three parts about writing. There are different types of texts and questions.
Summary
| Time allowed: | 1 hour 30 minutes |
|---|---|
| Number of parts: | Reading: 5; Writing: 3 |
| Number of questions: | Reading: 35; Writing: 7 |
| Marks: | 50% of total |
Reading Part 1 (Multiple choice)
| What's in Part 1? | Five very short texts (they may be signs and messages, postcards, notes, emails, labels, etc.). You have to read them and choose which of the three sentences (A, B or C) is the best description of the text. |
|---|---|
| What do I have to practise? | Reading notices and other short texts to understand the main message. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | 1 mark for each correct answer. |
Reading Part 2 (Matching)
| What's in Part 2? | Five short descriptions of people and eight short texts to read. You have to match each person to a text. |
|---|---|
| What do I have to practise? | Reading eight short texts to find specific information. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | 1 mark for each correct answer. |
Reading Part 3 (True/False)
| What's in Part 3? | A long text and 10 sentences about the text. You have to read the text and say if each sentence is true or false. |
|---|---|
| What do I have to practise? | Reading a text quickly to find out information. |
| How many questions are there? | 10 |
| How many marks are there? | 1 mark for each correct answer. |
Reading Part 4 (Multiple choice)
| What's in Part 4? | A long text and five questions. You have to read the text and choose the right answer (A, B, C or D) for each of the five questions. |
|---|---|
| What do I have to practise? | Reading to understand the detail of a text. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | 1 mark for each correct answer. |
Reading Part 5 (Multiple-choice cloze)
| What's in Part 5? | A short text with 10 numbered spaces. Each space represents a missing word and you have to choose the right answer from a choice of four (A, B, C or D). |
|---|---|
| What do I have to practise? | Understanding vocabulary and grammar. |
| How many questions are there? | 10 |
| How many marks are there? | 1 mark for each correct answer. |
B1 Reading tests B1 Reading practice B1 Reading practice 2
Writing Part 1 (Sentence transformations)
| What's in Part 1? | Five questions which are all about the same theme. For each question there is one complete sentence and a second sentence which has a missing word or words. You have to complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first sentence. |
|---|---|
| What do I have to practise? | How to say the same thing in different ways in English, e.g. 'not warm enough' means the same as 'too cold'. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | 1 mark for each correct answer. |
Rephrasing 1 Rephrasing 2 Rephrasing 3 Rephrasing 4 Printable activity 1
Printable activity 2 Rephrasing 5 Rephrasing 6 Rephrasing 7 Rephrasing 8 Rephrasing 9
Rephrasing 10 Rephrasing 11 Rephrasing 12
Writing Part 2 (Short communicative message)
| What's in Part 2? | The instructions tell you who to write to and what you should write (a postcard, note, email, etc.). |
|---|---|
| What do I have to practise? | Writing short messages. |
| How many questions are there? | 1 |
| How much do I have to write? | 35–45 words |
| How many marks are there? | This question has a total of 5 marks. |
Useful expressions:
· To apologise: I’m sorry that (+ sentence). I’m sorry that I didn’t go to your party.
· Future apology: I’m sorry, but (+ sentence). I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to help you.
· To thank someone: Thank you for (+ -ing / noun). Thank you for helping me with the cake.
· To make a suggestion: How about (+ -ing / noun)? How about meeting in the cinema at 6?
· To ask a favour: Could you (+ infinitive), please? Could you call the hotel for me, please?
EXAM PRACTICE:
1. You have just returned from a week's holiday staying at the home of your British friend, Sam.
Write a card to your friend, Sam. In your car, you should:
- tell Sam about your journey back to your home
- say what you enjoyed most about your stay
- ask Sam to visit you
Write 35-45 words on your answer sheet.
2. An English friend of yours called James gave a party yesterday, which you enjoyed.
Write a card to send to James. In your card, you should:
- thank him for the party
- say what you liked best
- suggest when you could both meet again
Write 35-45 words on your answer sheet.
3. You have just bought something new for your kitchen.
Write an e-mail to your friend Sally. In your e-mail, you should:
- describe what you have bought
- explain why you needed it
- say where you are going to put it.
Write 35-45 words on your answer sheet.
1. You have just returned from a week's holiday staying at the home of your British friend, Sam.
Write a card to your friend, Sam. In your car, you should:
- tell Sam about your journey back to your home
- say what you enjoyed most about your stay
- ask Sam to visit you
Write 35-45 words on your answer sheet.
2. An English friend of yours called James gave a party yesterday, which you enjoyed.
Write a card to send to James. In your card, you should:
- thank him for the party
- say what you liked best
- suggest when you could both meet again
Write 35-45 words on your answer sheet.
3. You have just bought something new for your kitchen.
Write an e-mail to your friend Sally. In your e-mail, you should:
- describe what you have bought
- explain why you needed it
- say where you are going to put it.
Write 35-45 words on your answer sheet.
4. Your English friend, Emma, has sent you some birthday money for you to buy a music CD. Write an e-mail to Emma. In your e-mail, you should:
- thank Emma for the present
- say which music CD you are going to buy
- explain why you have chose this CD
- thank Emma for the present
- say which music CD you are going to buy
- explain why you have chose this CD
Write 35-45 words on your answer sheet.
Writing Part 3 (Continuous writing)
| What's in Part 3? | You have a choice of two questions: an informal letter or a story. |
|---|---|
| What do I have to practise? | Writing letters and stories. |
| How many questions are there? | 1 |
| How much do I have to write? | About 100 words |
| How many marks are there? | This question has a total of 15 marks. |
The words and expressions below are often used by native speakers when writing to friends and relatives. Using them will help you write in an informal style and will also help you organize your letter into clear paragraphs.
Starting your letter (Paragraph 1)
Thanks for your letter.
It was great to hear from you
I hope you and your family are ok.
It was great to hear from you
I hope you and your family are ok.
Lovely to hear from you.
How are you?
How are things?
Hope you're well.
Commenting on something (Paragraph 1)
I'm sorry to hear/learn ...
I'm so pleased to hear ...
It's great to hear ...
What wonderful news about ...
Moving the topic on (Paragraph 2)
Anyway, the reason I'm writing ...
I thought I'd write to tell/ask you
Anyway, I was wondering ...
Ending your letter (Paragraph 3)
Well, that's all for now
Write back soon
Looking forward to hearing from you again
All the best
Best wishes
See you soon
Take care
Yours
Love
Lots of love
LIST OF LINKERS
LIST OF LINKERS 2
And now some activities to practice using linkers:
Activity 1
Activity 2
And now it is your turn:
1. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend
"I've just finished reading a really good book. What kinds of thing do you enjoy reading? Do you prefer books or magazines? Tell me something about a famous writer from your country"
Now write a letter answering your friend's questions.
Write your letter in about 100 words on your answer sheet.
2. This is part of a letter you receive from an Australian friend
"I've just joined a film club. We watch and discuss films from different countries. What kinds of films are popular in your country? Can you suggest a good film for our club to watch? Why do you like it?"
Now write a letter answering your friend's questions.
Write your letter in about 100 words on your answer sheet.
3. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend.
"I've won some prize money in a competition, and I'm not sure what to do. My family think I should save the money, but I want to spend it all on an exciting holiday. What should I do?
Now write a letter answering your friend's questions.
Write your letter in about 100 words on your answer sheet.
4. This is part of a letter you receive from an English friend.
"I can't decide whether to buy a new bycicle from a shop or on the Internet. Where do you think I should buy it? Is it better to buy some things from shops? Do you buy things on the Internet"
Now write a letter answering your friend's questions.
Write your letter in about 100 words on your answer sheet.
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