Hello Exam Seekers,
Another Tuesday another post on tips for English Exams. The past few weeks I brought to you tips on the C1: Advanced Part 1: Multiple-choice cloze, Part 2: Open cloze, Part 3: Word formation, Part 4 – Key word transformation, Part 5 – Multiple Choice and Part 6 – Cross-text multiple matching. Today, I bring to you the most difficult part of this exam – in my opinion.
Part 7: Gapped text
In this part of the exam, you find a single page of text with some numbered gaps which represent missing paragraphs. After the text there are some paragraphs which are not in the right order. You have to read the text and the paragraphs and decide which paragraph best fits each gap.
It’s a difficult part of the exam, not only because you have to match the paragraphs to the gaps correctly, but because there are 6 gaps to 7 pieces os paragraph and they worth 2 marks for each correct answer.
For this part of the exam, you should have a good understanding of how to structure a text and how the development of a text should work.
Here is an example of a gapped text and the paragraphs:
A The recruitment of men to the armed forces during the conflict in Europe from 1914 to 1918 meant there was very little persecution, since gamekeepers went off to fight. As the number of gamekeepers decreased, the wildcat began to increase its range, recolonising many of its former haunts. Extinction was narrowly averted.
B The wildcat waits for a while in rapt concentration, ears twitching and eyes watching, seeing everything and hearing everything, trying to detect the tell-tale movement of a vole or a mouse. But there is nothing, and in another leap he disappears into the gloom.
C The results, which are expected shortly, will be fascinating. But anyone who has seen a wildcat will be in little doubt that there is indeed a unique and distinctive animal living in the Scottish Highlands, whatever his background.
D They probably used deciduous and coniferous woodland for shelter, particularly in winter, and hunted over more open areas such as forest edge, open woodland, thickets and scrub, grassy areas and marsh. The wildcat was probably driven into more mountainous areas by a combination of deforestation and persecution.
E As the animals emerge, their curiosity is aroused by every movement and rustle in the vegetation. Later they will accompany their mother on hunting trips, learning quickly, and soon become adept hunters themselves.
F This is what makes many people think that the wildcat is a species in its own right. Research currently being undertaken by Scottish Natural Heritage is investigating whether the wildcat really is distinct from its homeliving cousin, or whether it is nothing
more than a wild-living form of the domestic cat.
G It is a typical image most folk have of the beast, but it is very much a false one, for the wildcat is little more than a bigger version of the domestic cat, and probably shows his anger as often.
How can I start?!?!
Well, the first thing is to read the first paragraph of the text and underline the ending, to check the type of connector it is using or it requires. Then, you should read the third paragraph and do the same with its beginning, because you need yo to try and understand what type of connector it is using or what type of connector was it separated from. You have also, of course, check to understand and grasp the logical sequence.
On my living-room wall I have a painting of a wildcat by John Holmes of which I am extremely fond. It depicts a snarling, spitting animal, teeth bared and back arched: a taut coiled spring ready to unleash some unknown fury.
However, the physical differences are tangible. The wildcat is a much larger animal, weighing in some cases up to seven kilos, the same as a typical male fox. The coat pattern is superficially similar to a domestic tabby cat but it is all stripes and no spots. The tail is thicker and blunter, with three to five black rings. The animal has an altogether heavier look.
After reading these two paragraphs, you should check all the loose paragraphs to try and get the one that will be between these two parts, making the connection between these paragraphs perfect.
They are a bit tricky, so read them all and underline important connectors and import parts. In the end, you should come up with letter G as an answer:
G It is a typical image most folk have of the beast, but it is very much a false one, for the wildcat is little more than a bigger version of the domestic cat, and probably shows his anger as often.
Why?
At the end of the first paragraph, the text is describing the animal. This is a physical description as you can see. And letter G, starts by saying that that is “a typical image” of this animal. So they connect, they are both talking about the image of an animal. And the end of G, connects to the third paragraph, because you are finishing a physical description, and starting to talk about another aspect, so the third paragraph uses the “however” to makes change the focus on the sentence. Can you see that?
Well, as I told you, this is not an easy part of the exam. You should practice this a lot so that you can be an expert, or that it makes much more sense easier for you. Because, as you can see, this is time-consuming. So I will give you the chance for you to do this exercise now and practice, try and see if you can do it 🙂
A tip for you is: start by easier texts and leave this one as the last one. Because once you are done with everything else, you can use the rest of your test time doing this task.
I don’t know if I was much of a help, but I hope I’ve made a difference if you are trying for the CAE and had questions about the C1: Advanced. The answer key is at the end of the post. If you are stuck and still don’t know how to do this part of the exam or if you are having trouble, comment in the comment section below that I might be of aid. Don’t forget to follow me at:
Share with people that might be interested in taking this exam or other exams, I’m sure I can help them too. By doing that you help me provide even more content for you and for everybody.
Have a great week,
Patty
PS: Answer key:
PART 7
41 G
42 D
43 A
44 F
45 C
46 E