First Certificate In English

Paper 3: Use of English

Part 4: Key Word Transformations
 Instructions:

- You will be given a short sentence, a word in

capital letters and another sentence with a
gap.

YOUR TASK IS TO:

Complete the second sentence so that it means

the same as the first. You must use the word
they give you (without changing it).
SENTENCE 1
GAP

a) We got to the island at midnight.

REACH
We didn’t _________________midnight.

WORD
 How to work this exercise:

a) Read the sentences carefully

(once) to figure out what it is
expressing.
b) Take a look at the word in
capitals.
c) Find and expression to paraphrase
the sentence.
 Instruction 1
a) Read the sentence carefully (once) to figure out what it is
expressing.

a) We got to the island at midnight.

REACH
We didn’t _________________midnight.

What does the sentence express?

They (a group of people) arrived at the island at an

exact time (midnight).
 What is the trick?

a)Paraphrasing: it means saying the EXACT same

thing, using different expressions.

b) The word in capitals refers to a specific structure

that will paraphrase the first sentence perfectly.

c) It is important to paraphrase in an EXACT way.

d) You must fill the gap using ALWAYS the word given,
without changing it.

e)The minimum words you can use is 2, and the

maximum is 5 INCLUDING THE WORD GIVEN.
 Instruction 2
b) Find the clues that the sentence provides for each gap.

a) We got to the island at midnight.

REACH
We didn’t _________________midnight.

REACH: to
get
somewhere. Negative.
 This exercise is given two marks in the
FCE (one per each segment of the
sentence).

a) We got to the island at midnight.

REACH
We didn’t REACH THE ISLAND / UNTIL midnight.
Example:

a) Frank asked if I could look after his

dog for him.
TAKE
Frank asked me to __________ for
him.
Example:

a) I want you to finish all this work by

lunchtime.
SHOULD
All this work __________ before
lunchtime.
Example:

a) Could you wake me up at 8 o’clock,

please?
BE
I’d like __________ up at 8 o’clock,
please.
 TASK:

You MUST work in silence.

Complete the exercise writing the correct

answers.

Hand them out at the end of the class.

These exercises will be graded.