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This is a lesson plan I have designed for my CAE students who are about to take the exam. It is designed to help them prepare for the four use of English exercises in paper 1. You could set the worksheet as homework or have students complete it stage by stage in class in pairs or individually. Download the worksheet and key below:

CAE Use of English Training

CAE Use of English Training Key

Part 1 – Multiple Choice Cloze

Complete the 4 sentences with the words in the box below:

1. I’ve been trying to get _______ of my boss all morning but he’s not picking up.
2. The government realises that homelessness is an issues but has failed to ________ the scale of the problem.
3. The article gives a fascinating ________ into the lives of the most vulnerable people in society.
4. The _________ was dawning that this was a major disaster.

Insight

Realisation

Hold

Grasp

1. It’s just a ________of time before all courses are taught at least partially online.
2. The police are only beginning to realise the complexity of the _________ now.
3. The ______ of the accident has yet to be identified, but police have their suspicions.
4. Since the inconclusive elections the political system has been in a _______ of disarray.

State

Situation

Matter

Cause

1. After the show I was ________ by an agent from a record company and offered a contract.
2. Over the course of the trip we _________ many difficulties but we carried on regardless.
3. After 30 years of service to the company he was _________ with a golden Rolex watch.
4. They ________ us double what we originally paid for the house so we accepted straightaway.

Presented

Offered

Encountered

Approached

1. After several attempts to untie the knot I had to ________ defeat and cut the rope with a knife.
2. I’m afraid I can’t ________ you to enter this area, it’s a restricted zone.
3. The family will ________ €25,000 in compensation for the damage caused in the accident.
4. I’m sorry sir but your parking ________ has expired and you have to pay a fine.

Permit

Admit

Allow

Receive

1. Hi, I’ve come ______ the party, I’m a friend of Josh’s.
2. When it comes _____ computers, I’m completely useless.
3. My family originally comes _____ Scotland but I grew up in Birmingham.
4. The console comes _____ 2 free games of your choosing.

From

With

To

For

1. University should be _________ to people from all backgrounds to increase equality.
2. Planning and organising the whole festival in just 2 days is not __________.
3. The summit of the mountain is only __________ to experienced climbers.
4. It’s best to use turkey for this dish, but if it isn’t ___________, just use chicken.

Feasible

Obtainable

Accessible

Reachable

1. We must do more challenge stereotypical gender _______ like male heroes and females needing rescuing.
2. My favourite comic-book _________ are Batman and Ironman because they’re just normal guys with amazing gadgets.
3. He is a general in the army and he certainly looks the ________.
4. Surfing isn’t a hobby dude, it’s a _______ of mind!

Characters

State

Part

Roles

Part 2 – Open Cloze

Complete the sentences with 1 word.

1. Two students, neither of ______ had done their homework, showed up to class.
2. The study was carried _____ by a group of scientists from Harvard.
3. The houses on my street, all of ______ were built over 200 years ago, are painted in a range of colours.
4. It normally takes me an hour or ____ to get home from school.
5. Sometimes as _____ as 50 people come to the free dance classes.
6. The city has many places of interest, _____ the beautiful roman buildings in the centre ___ the ultra-modern harbour side.
7. I try to do at least a little exercise ____ a daily basis.
8. The government have cut spending on education. ______ this means is that class sizes will increase.
9. This part of the building is in the process of ______ repaired.
10. _____ there were so many people at the concert, people had to sit on each other’s laps.
11. The problems associated ____ shooting the film underwater were a real headache for the director.
12. The development of smaller, hand-held cameras led ____ photography becoming a popular hobby.
13. In the past people _____ have to wait up to a week for their photographs to be developed.
14. They were ____ the point of calling off the search when they found the missing dog sleeping under a tree.
15. When taken ____ a whole, the Lord of the Rings saga is one of the most impressive stories ever told.
16. He has written well _____ a thousand songs in his career. (much more than)
17. We’re thinking about having our house done ____ this summer, but it might be too expensive.
18. I’m still not sure ______ or not I lost my phone or someone stole it.

Part 3 – Word Formation

Put the correct negative prefix on the word: in-/dis-/il-/im-/ir-/un-

1.       ____legal 2.       ____secure 3.       ____regular 4.       ____logical 5.       ____predictable 6.       ____pleased 7.       ____sufficient 8.       ____reparable 9.       ____loyal 10.    ____literate 11.    ____rational 12.    ____adequate 13.    ____conventional 14.    ____professional 15.    ____willing

16.    ____capable 17.    ____able 18.    ____precise 19.    ____mature 20.    ____patient 21.    ____complete 22.    ____belief 23.    ____agreement 24.    ____affected 25.    ____pleasant 26.    ____coherent 27.    ____ accurate 28.    ____valid 29.    ____perfect 30.    ____certain

Complete the sentences with one of the words above, check the context, should the word be positive or negative?

1. Don’t be so ___________! You have to wait for your turn like everyone else. PATIENCE
2. I’m afraid there is ___________ money to pay everyone this month. SUFFICE
3. There was a __________ smell coming from the kitchen that made my mouth water. PLEASE
4. It was very difficult for the _______________ refugee children to fit in at school. LITERACY
5. We finally reached a(n) ________________ about what to do with the money. AGREE
6. I’m afraid that the damage to the car is _______________. REPAIR
7. Your tickets are ___________ for the VIP area, take a glass of champagne and sit down. VALIDATION
8. He was so drunk that his speech was completely ______________. COHERENCE
9. Our son is so ___________ compared to the other boys in his class, he never gets in trouble. MATURITY
10. If your ___________ behaviour continues, you’re going to be out of a job. PROFESSIONALISM
11. I hate that kind of film, the endings are always so __________ you can see it coming a mile off. PREDICT
12. What Donald Trump said about Mexican immigrants was completely _____________ and should be corrected at once. ACCURACY
13. Luckily out area was _____________ by the storm and heavy rain. AFFECT
14. Your work on the project was _______________ and I expect you to do better next time. ADEQUACY
15. We should sack him immediately, he’s _____________ of arriving on time. CAPABILITY
16. Calm down, we need to be ____________ and think about it carefully. RATIONALITY
17. If they are ____________ to lower the price then we should break off negotiations. WILL
18. When I was a teenager I felt very ____________ about my body, but I’m fine now. SECURITY
19. The puzzle is still _____________, we’re missing 4 pieces. COMPLETION
20. Her methods may be _______________, but they’re very effective. CONVENTION

Part 4 – Key Word Transformations

Choose the correct option to complete the key word transformations:

1. Mauro says he prefers to do his homework on his own

RATHER

Mauro says that ______________________________________ do his homework with other people.

1. He wouldn’t rather to
2. He would rather not
3. He would rather not to
4. He rather wouldn’t

 

2. Clara said that she had not seen the missing letter.

HAVING

Clara ___________________________________ the missing letter.

1. Refused having seen
2. Denied having to see
3. Admitted to not having seen
4. Denied having seen

 

3. It took Layla five minutes to find her car keys.

SPENT

Layla ___________________________________ for her car keys.

1. Spent five minutes looking
2. Spent five minutes to search
3. Spent five minutes finding
4. Spent five minutes to find

 

4. A short meeting of the cast will take place after today’s rehearsal.

BY

Today’s rehearsal ___________________________________________ a short meeting of the cast.

1. Will be after by
2. Followed after by
3. Will be followed by
4. Will followed by

 

5. I’ll be happy to show you round the sights of my city when you come to visit me.

TAKE

It will be a _____________________________________________ sightseeing tour of my city when you come to visit me.

1. Happiness taking you to a
2. Pleasure to take you on a
3. Pleasing to take you to a
4. Pleasure taking you on a

 

6. Rousseau painted fabulous pictures of the rainforest although he had never travelled outside Europe.

SPITE

Rousseau painted fabulous pictures of the rainforest ____________________________________ travelled outside Europe.

1. In spite of the fact that he never
2. In spite of he never
3. In spite the fact he never
4. In spite of never having

 

7. It is thought that one in every five people cannot control how much they spend.

UNABLE

One in every five people is thought _______________________________ their spending under control.

1. To be unable to keep
2. That is unable to control
3. Of being unable to control
4. Unable to keep

Key

Part 1:

1.       Hold 2.       Grasp 3.       Insight 4.       Realisation   1.       Matter 2.       Situation 3.       Cause 4.       State   1.       Approached 2.       Encountered 3.       Presented 4.       Offered   1.       Admit 2.       Allow 3.       Receive 4.       Permit

1.       For 2.       To 3.       From 4.       With   1.       Accessible 2.       Feasible 3.       Reachable 4.       Obtainable   1.       Roles 2.       Characters 3.       Part 4.       State

Part 2:

1.       Whom 2.       Out 3.       Which 4.       So 5.       Many 6.       From, to 7.       On 8.       What 9.       being

10.    as/since/because 11.    with 12.    to 13.    would 14.    on 15.    as 16.    over 17.    up 18.    whether

Part 3:

1.       illegal 2.       insecure 3.       irregular 4.       illogical 5.       unpredictable 6.       displeased 7.       insufficient 8.       irreparable 9.       disloyal 10.    illiterate 11.    irrational 12.    inadequate 13.    unconventional 14.    unprofessional 15.    unwilling

16.    incapable 17.    unable (adjective) disable (verb) 18.    imprecise 19.    immature 20.    impatient 21.    incomplete 22.    disbelief 23.    disagreement 24.    unaffected 25.    unpleasant 26.    incoherent 27.    inaccurate 28.    invalid 29.    imperfect 30.    uncertain

 

1.       impatient 2.       insufficient 3.       pleasant 4.       illiterate 5.       agreement 6.       irreparable 7.       valid 8.       incoherent 9.       mature 10.    unprofessional

11.    predictable 12.    inaccurate 13.    unaffected 14.    inadequate 15.    incapable 16.    rational 17.    unwilling 18.    insecure 19.    incomplete 20.    unconventional

Part 4:

1. b
2. d
3. a
4. c
5. b
6. d
7. a