C2 Proficiency: Exploiting Use of English Texts Further

This is a worksheet for students preparing to take the Cambridge C2 Proficiency exam. It serves as a way of extending use of English activities to further exploit the text. Download the handout below:

My students are using the official test book 1 to prepare for the June exam. This worksheet is based on parts 1 & 2 of test 2 from the book.

Part 1 – Multiple Choice Cloze

After they complete a part 1 task, either for homework or in class, I prepare an activity like the first one on the worksheet in which they’re required to use one more of the words from the multiple choice cloze to complete another sentence. This can help draw the attention to subtle differences in meaning and usage between the often confusing vocabulary items test in this part.

Part 2 – Open Cloze

After they’ve done a part 2 task, I create an inverted version of the same text by taking a photo of the original and running it through https://www.onlineocr.net/ to turn it into editable text. I then remove other words from the text, perhaps the delexicalized verb in an expression like “take into account”. Whereas in the original test the student might have been tested on the preposition: “take ….. account”, in the inverted version they might be tested on the verbs: “…… into account”

I also aim to remove some words from expressions that students may have overlooked in the rest of the text in their race to fill in the gaps. For example, this particular text contains the expression: “to all intents and purposes”, meaning “in all the most important ways”

If you create any similar training worksheets and want me to post them on the blog, feel free to get in touch via the comments.

Part 1

Use the extra words from part 1 to complete the sentences:

1. During the Vietnam war thousands of American men were called …. to serve in the military.
   1. on
   2. up
   3. in
2. She decided to wear a ……. pink satin dress to the interview.
   1. arresting
   2. catching
   3. fetching
3. Undergoing a ten-week basic training course is …….. practice for anyone wanting to join the US army.
   1. native
   2. standard
   3. typical
4. He was excited to see his cousins again but when he saw them he ……… all shy for some reason.
   1. came over
   2. gave out
   3. set up
5. The paramedics did their best to save him but he was ……….. dead on arrival at the hospital.
   1. predicted
   2. entered
   3. pronounced
6. They considered his political ideas to be too ……… for the group and his membership was revoked.
   1. basic
   2. radical
   3. central
7. It suddenly …….. on me that he had been lying to me the whole time.
   1. started
   2. dawned
   3. birthed
8. We thought we’d put the issue to ……., but it was brought up again at the next meeting.
   1. sleep
   2. bed
   3. ground

Part 2

Film music 

Any mention ….. the movie Star Wars instantly triggers the resounding opening bars of the film score, which signals the presence of the enemy. But can you ….. to mind who wrote the music? 

According …… the legendary film director Orson Wells, music ……… for half the work in a movie, mostly without the audience ……. knowing the composer’s name. The cruellest part of it for the composer is that, in a good film, that is how it ……. be. If the art of dressing well is to …. intents and purposes to dress in …… a way that others do not ……. your elegance, the art of a great music ……. is to fuse so perfectly with what is …… the screen that audiences are unconsciously …….. into the mood of the movie. ……. this reason, even great movie music ……. very little recognition to composers.

Key

Part 1:

1. b – up – be called up to the military
2. c – fetching – a fetching dress = an attractive dress
3. b – standard – standard practice = what people normally do
4. a – came over all + adjective = to react in a specific way to a situation
5. c – pronounced – be pronounced dead = a doctor officially announces and records your death
6. b – radical – radical political ideas
7. b – dawned – if something dawns on you, you realise it is happening.
8. b – bed – put something to bed – solve/resolve an issue/debate

Part 2

Film music 

Any mention OF the movie Star Wars instantly triggers the resounding opening bars of the film score, which signals the presence of the enemy. But can you CALL to mind who wrote the music? 

According TO the legendary film director Orson Wells, music ACCOUNTS for half the work in a movie, mostly without the audience EVEN knowing the composer’s name. The cruellest part of it for the composer is that, in a good film, that is how it SHOULD be. If the art of dressing well is to ALL intents and purposes to dress in SUCH a way that others do not NOTICE your elegance, the art of a great music SCORE is to fuse so perfectly with what is ON the screen that audiences are unconsciously SUCKED into the mood of the movie. FOR this reason, even great movie music BRINGS very little recognition to composers.