Test de niveau B2 BBC Learning english

Which sentence uses the present continuous correctly?

• “I think you’re telling me lies. I’m not believing you!”

• “I’m not checking my email. I’m studying!”

• “Please explain that to me again. I’m not understanding you.”

Answer explanation

Well done! This sentence uses the present continuous correctly to talk about activities that are in progress at the time of speaking.

“In 2017, I started studying Spanish. In 2019, I visited Spain for the first time.” Which sentence correctly describes these events?

• I have been studying Spanish for two years before I first visited Spain.

• Before I first visited Spain, I have been studying Spanish for two years.

• I had been studying Spanish for two years before I first visited Spain.

Answer explanation

Yes, that’s correct! The past perfect continuous (had/hadn’t + been + verb -ing) is used correctly here to give background information about a situation that was happening in the past.

Which prefix goes before 'tox' and 'crease' to create words which mean 'to remove harmful toxins' and 'to reduce'?

• de-

• un-

• dis

Answer explanation

Well done! The correct words are ‘detox’ and ‘decrease’.

Which sentence uses ‘neither’ correctly?

• Neither wallet are mine.

• Neither of these wallets aren’t mine.

• Neither of these wallets is mine.

Answer explanation

Great job! That’s correct. After ‘neither of’, the verb is always positive and can be singular (‘is’) or plural (‘are’), so ‘neither of these wallets are mine’ is also common.

Which phrasal verb best fits the space in this dialogue: A: When did you ______ up with your boyfriend? B: Oh, I told him last night. I didn’t think he would ______ down in tears when I told him.

• break

• keep

• hurry

Answer explanation

Amazing! That’s correct! Here, ‘break up’ means ‘separate’ and ‘break down’ means ‘get very upset’.

The following questions were asked at a tourist information office. Which question is correct?

• Please could you give me an advice?

• Can you give me informations about hotels?

• Where can I find some accommodation?

Answer explanation

‘Information’ is an uncountable noun. It has no plural form. It is correct to ask for ‘some information’.

In this spoken sentence, what does I‘d...I‘d represent? “If I’d seen the thief, I’d have called the police.”

• I would + I had

• I would + I would

• I had + I would

Answer explanation

That’s correct. Spoken third conditional sentences can be confusing. This is correct because 'I’d' in the 'if' part is 'I had', and 'I’d' in the main part is 'I would'.

ALL these sentences contain the abstract uncountable noun ‘happiness’, but only ONE is correct. Which?

• Money can’t buy you the happiness.

• Money can’t buy you happiness.

• Money can’t buy you a happiness.

Answer explanation

Well done! When we use an abstract uncountable noun to make a general statement, we don’t use the articles ‘the’ or ‘a/an’.

Which sentence is correct?

• Lionel Messi is a world famous football player.

• Lionel Messi is a world-famous football player.

• Lionel Messi is a world-famous football-player.

Answer explanation

Some compound adjectives, like this noun + adjective combination, need a hyphen

Your work colleague is talking on the phone, explaining why he was late this morning. Which phrase would you expect to hear?

• My train was cancelled. That’s why I’m late.

• My train was cancelled. Thus, I’m late.

• My train was cancelled. Therefore, I’m late.

Answer explanation

Well done! Using ‘that’s why’ to explain is very common in informal speech.