CPE Practice Test

CPE Practice Test

Part One Reading

Part Two Use of English

Part Three Reading Comprehension

Part Four Conversation

Part One

Read the text and choose the correct answer.

Click on a gap and a choice of words will appear.

Dropdown

Soap Operas

It is surely beyond dispute that soap opera is the most consistently popular type of television programme in the world. It has succeeded in ​

Select answer

the imagination of millions since it first ​

Select answer

as a genre back in the 1930s.

Dropdown

The word ‛soap’ alludes to the role originally played by detergent manufacturers, who promoted their products during commercial breaks. Soap operas have been ​

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as mindless entertainment, with viewers only ​

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to these programmes in order to escape from reality.

Dropdown

Soaps are often set in friendly, tightly-knit neighbourhoods, evoking nostalgic feelings in some viewers, since such communities may no longer exist in many areas. The subject matter of soaps also ​

Select answer

great appeal for viewers since the stories​

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focus on domestic problems they may have experienced themselves.

Dropdown

There has been a significant shift in attitudes with many soaps now ​

Select answer

moral and social issues. The characters and situations ​

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are complex and ambiguous, providing much food for thought and no easy answers.

Part Two

Read the text.

Think of the word which best fits each gap.

Write the correct word in each gap

Fill in the Blank

Global English

Global English exists as a political and cultural reality. Many misguided theories attempt to explain why the English language should have succeeded internationally, whilst ______ have not. Is it because there is something inherently logical or beautiful about the structure of English? Does its simple grammar make it easy to learn? Such ideas are misconceived.

Fill in the Blank

Latin was once a major international language, _______ having a complicated grammatical structure, and English also presents learners with all manner of real difficulties, ___ least its spelling system.

Fill in the Blank

Ease of learning, therefore, has little to do with it. _____ all, children learn to speak their mother tongue in approximately the same period of time, __________ of their language.

Fill in the Blank

English has spread not __ much for linguistic reasons, but rather because it has often found ____ in the right place, at the right time. Since the 1960s, two major developments have contributed to strengthening this global status. Firstly, in a number of countries, English is now used in addition to national or regional languages. As well as this, an electronic revolution has taken place. It is estimated that __ the region of 80% of worldwide electronic communication is now in English.

Part Three

You will read three short dialogues, choose the answer which fits best according to what you read.

Extract One - Is about a consultant talking about business meetings.

Conducting yourself effectively at business meetings is about ensuring your presence is felt. Be aware of sitting up rather than slouching, but maintain a relaxed appearance. Spreading papers around looks chaotic, and there’s a tendency to suppose having phones on the table in front of you makes you look important and in demand. It hints more at a propensity to get diverted from the issues at hand. A notepad and pen will be more effectual in suggesting you’re on the ball, as will placing yourself in the eyeline of movers and shakers and looking focused. Have a glass of water to hand, as this will keep you alert and will also check your urge to blurt something out without due consideration. You want your observations to be valid and articulate, so a well-judged sip before responding can ensure against anything too off-the-cuff. Do contribute in the early stages of the meeting as the longer you hold off the harder it gets to chip in, and you could get left behind. It’s best to come up with ideas that appear to demonstrate foresight and that you think others will deem sensible and go along with.

Multiple Choice

What is the consultant doing when he mentions mobile phones at meetings?

• criticising the overuse of technology

• explaining how they can boost a person’s image

• warning against making them visible

Multiple Choice

What advice does he give about talking at meetings?

• Comment on all points made.

• Avoid answering questions impulsively.

• Offer strong closing contributions.

Extract Two - You will read about an ecologist, Todd Howell, talking about his new educational organisation 'Green Adventure'.

F: Why did you decide to start a green learning organisation to target schoolchildren?

M: We’re in a time now where everyone’s talking about climate change, but everything’s been refined to four words: carbon, energy, transport and offset. That’s all I ever hear and people believe that by focusing on these, our planet will be healthy again. So we need a concerted effort to introduce a programme that’s about investigative learning, not prescribed pathways. The challenge is how we market the message in a way that will resonate and compete. Because we’re bombarded by advertising messages 24 hours a day.

F: Are you trying to get your learning programme into the school curriculum?

M: I’m in two minds because it would be awful if it became just another class, like ‘Oh no, we’ve got ecology today!’ I love going to schools though, that’s the payback, sitting with kids. They have an amazing perspective on things. We grow more cynical as we grow older and have preconceived ideas about what’s possible and what’s not. Kids are like, ‘Why are we cutting down trees if it’s bad for the Earth? We must stop right now.’

Multiple Choice

Todd believes that the public's concern about climate change

• is increasing rapidly.

• is becoming too simplistic.

• is being undermined by commercial interests.

Multiple Choice

When talking about introducing ecology to schoolchildren, Todd reveals

• his amusement at their naive answers.

• his delight in their straightforward reactions.

• his concern about the content of the curriculum.

Extract Three - You will read about a photographer talking about the art of photography.

Many people are hampered by what they think of as a fit and proper subject for the camera. But, it can be healthy for your creativity to apply the same kind of attention and effort you might to a so-called ‘important’ subject or spectacle, to instead, the mundane stuff that most people ignore. The idea of finding the extraordinary simply by giving the ordinary your full attention began with surrealist painters in the 1920s. This has even more resonance now, with the onset of globalisation, which may homogenise things in one way, but also means that the remaining differences between cultures are often found in the simplest things. A henna stencil, used as body decoration for special occasions, may be unremarkable in Asia, but in the West it makes an image oddly intriguing. Even so, as has always been true, it’s not enough just to find something and make a snapshot of it. For the photography of the ordinary to work, it’s more important than ever to give the image your full imaginative and skilful treatment. The best photographers often do this instinctively.

Multiple Choice

What approach is she advocating?

• gaining inspiration from paintings

• ensuring photographs have a clearly defined subject

• selecting seemingly trivial subjects

Multiple Choice

Why does she mention globalisation?

• to lament the decline in strong local images available to photographers

• to suggest that it enhances the fascination with certain photographic images

• to remind photographers of the need to work to the highest standards

Part Four

You will now be asked a series of questions.

This is an opportunity for you talk about yourself.

What is your name?

Where are you from?

How would you describe the area you live in?

What are your neighbours like?

Would you prefer to live somewhere else?

What would you like to improve about the area you live in?

How much free time do you have at the moment?

How good are you at organising your time?