C1 ADVANCED EXAM FORMAT – 4 PAPERS

PAPER 1: READING & USE OF ENGLISH (8 PARTS, 56 QUESTIONS)

TIME: 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES
Questions 1 – 24 carry 1 mark.
Questions 25 – 30 carry up to 2 marks.
Questions 31 – 46 carry 2 marks.
Questions 47 – 56 carry 1 mark.

- PART 1: MULTIPLE-CHOICE CLOZE

A text in which there are some numbered gaps, each of which represents a word or phrase. After the text
there are four possible answers for each gap and you have to choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).

TO PRACTISE: Vocabulary – idioms, collocations, shades of meaning, phrasal verbs, fixed phrases etc.

- PART 2: OPEN CLOZE

A text in which there are some gaps, each of which represents one missing word. You have to find the
correct word for each gap.

TO PRACTISE: Grammar & Vocabulary in general.

- PART 3: WORD FORMATION

A text containing eight gaps. Each gap represents a word. At the end of the line is a ‘prompt’ word which
you have to change in some way to complete the sentence correctly.

TO PRACTISE: Vocabulary.

- PART 4: KEY WORD TRANSFORMATIONS (2 marks for each correct answer)

Each question consists of a sentence followed by a ‘key’ word and a second sentence with a gap in the
middle. You have to use this key word to complete the second sentence, in three to six words, so that it
means the same as the first sentence.

TO PRACTISE: Grammar, Vocabulary & Collocation.

- PART 5: MULTIPLE CHOICE (2 marks for each correct answer)

A text with some multiple-choice questions. For each question, there are four options and you have to
choose A, B, C or D.

TO PRACTISE: Reading for detail, opinion, tone, purpose, main idea, implication, attitude.

- PART 6: CROSS-TEXT MULTIPLE MATCHING (2 marks for each correct

answer)
Four short texts with multiple-matching questions. You must read across all of the texts to match a
prompt to elements in the texts.

TO PRACTISE: Understanding and comparing opinions and attitudes across texts.

- PART 7: GAPPED TEXT (2 marks for each correct answer)

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.

TO PRACTISE: How to understand the structure and development of a text.

- PART 8: MULTIPLE MATCHING (2 marks for each correct answer)

A series of multiple-matching questions followed by a text or several short texts. You have to match a
prompt to elements in the text.

TO PRACTISE: Reading for specific information, detail, opinion and attitude.

PAPER 2: WRITING (2 PARTS)

TIME: 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES

PART 1 – 0 to 5 mark for each of the four criteria.

Writing 220–260 words. There is only one question. You must write an essay based on two points given
in the question. You must explain which of the two points is more important and give reasons for your
opinion.

PART 2 – 0 to 5 mark for each of the four criteria.

Writing 220–260 words. There are three questions and you must choose only one. You could be asked to
write a letter/email, proposal, report or review.

There are four assessment criteria for the tasks in the Writing paper:

 Content (How well have you completed the task? Have you done what you were asked to do?)

 Communicative Achievement (Is the writing appropriate for the task? For example, is the style
right for a magazine article? Have you used the right register, for example formal or informal?)

 Organisation (How is the piece of writing put together? Is the text logical and organised, using
a range of cohesive devices?)

 Language (Do you use a wide range of sophisticated grammar and vocabulary with fluency and
accuracy?)
PAPER 3: LISTENING (4 PARTS)
TIME: 40 MINUTES
PART 1 – Three short extracts from conversations between interacting speakers. For each recording
answer two multiple-choice questions.

PART 2 – Listen to one person speaking for about 3 minutes and complete eight sentences with
information that you hear.

PART 3 – Listen to a conversation between two or more speakers for about 4 minutes and answer six
multiple-choice questions.

PART 4 – Listen to five short recordings of about 30 seconds each. Each recording has only one person
speaking. On the question paper, there are two tasks and for each task you have to match each of the five
speakers to one of eight possible answers.