Modelo 1 · B2 First: Use of English completo (partes 1 a 4)

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Examen completo de Use of English con el formato del B2 First: las cuatro partes seguidas, treinta preguntas y cuarenta y cinco minutos. Se corrige solo aquí y te lo puedes descargar en PDF, con soluciones o sin ellas.

Parte 1 · Multiple choice cloze

Elige la palabra que encaja en cada hueco. Ocho preguntas, un punto cada una.

The library that refused to close

When the council announced that the branch library would shut, most people assumed the decision was (1) ___ . A retired teacher called Margaret Oyelaran disagreed. She spent a weekend (2) ___ up a petition and collected four hundred signatures in nine days. The council agreed to (3) ___ the matter at its December meeting.

What Margaret had understood, and the council had not, was that the library (4) ___ as something other than a place to borrow books. Parents used it as a warm room after school. Two men in their eighties met there every Tuesday and had done (5) ___ 1998. None of that appeared in the usage figures, which counted only loans.

The branch is still open. Margaret, who (6) ___ no interest in becoming a local celebrity, now runs a reading group there on Thursdays. She (7) ___ out that the campaign cost nothing except stamps and a great deal of walking. Asked whether she would do it again, she said she would rather it (8) ___ necessary.

  1. 1. …most people assumed the decision was ___ .closedendedfinalfinishedfinal. a final decision es la colocación: una decisión que ya no se discute. finished y ended hablan de algo terminado en el tiempo, no de algo inapelable.
  2. 2. She spent a weekend ___ up a petition.writingdrawingmakingputtingdrawing up. draw up es redactar un documento formal: un contrato, una lista, una petición.
  3. 3. The council agreed to ___ the matter.repeatrethinkreviewreconsiderreconsider. Es volver a plantearse una decisión ya tomada, que es lo que pide la frase. review sería revisar algo en marcha.
  4. 4. …the library ___ as something other than a place to borrow books.actedworkedfunctionedservedserved as. La colocación con as más una función es serve as. Function no lleva as en este sentido.
  5. 5. …met there every Tuesday and had done ___ 1998.duringsinceforfromsince. 1998 es un punto de partida, no una duración. Y el tiempo es had done, mirando hacia atrás desde el pasado.
  6. 6. Margaret, who ___ no interest in becoming a celebrity…announcedprofessedstateddeclaredprofessed. profess no interest in es declarar que algo no te interesa. Los otros tres no forman esa colocación con interest.
  7. 7. She ___ out that the campaign cost nothing except stamps.bringstakespointssetspoints out. point out es hacer notar un dato. bring up sería sacar un tema, que aquí ya está sacado.
  8. 8. She said she would rather it ___ necessary.were notwas nothas not beenhad not beenhad not been. would rather con otro sujeto pide pasado, y como habla de algo ya ocurrido, past perfect.

Parte 2 · Open cloze

Escribe UNA sola palabra en cada hueco. Sin contracciones. Arriba tienes el texto entero para situarte.

Learning an instrument as an adult

There is a widespread belief that if you did not learn an instrument as a child, it is too (1) ___ to start. Research does not support this. Adults learn differently from children, but they do not learn worse, and in some respects they learn faster, (2) ___ they can understand the theory behind what their hands are doing.

What adults lack is not ability (3) ___ patience. A seven-year-old will repeat the same four bars for twenty minutes without complaining. An adult wants to play the piece, and wants to play it today. This is (4) ___ most adult beginners give up: not because the instrument is too hard, (5) ___ because progress feels too slow.

The teachers who succeed with adults tend to do two things. They choose music the student actually likes, even (6) ___ it is technically awkward, and they make the first performance happen early. By the (7) ___ a student has played in front of another person, the habit is usually formed. (8) ___ then, most of them stop.

  1. 1. …it is too ___ to start.late. too late to start: la creencia que el texto va a desmontar.
  2. 2. …they learn faster, ___ they can understand the theory.because. Introduce la causa. También valdrían as o since.
  3. 3. What adults lack is not ability ___ patience.but. Estructura not X but Y: no es capacidad, sino paciencia.
  4. 4. This is ___ most adult beginners give up.why. Detrás de This is va why, no because.
  5. 5. …not because it is too hard, ___ because progress feels slow.but. Otra vez not … but …, repartido en la misma frase.
  6. 6. …music the student likes, even ___ it is technically awkward.if. even if es aunque . Con though también funciona, pero if encaja con lo hipotético.
  7. 7. By the ___ a student has played in front of another person…time. By the time más frase. Y fíjate en que detrás no va futuro.
  8. 8. ___ then, most of them stop.Before. Before then: antes de ese momento. Cierra el contraste con el by the time anterior.

Parte 3 · Word formation

Escribe la palabra derivada que falta. La palabra base va en MAYÚSCULAS.

The return of the repair shop

For thirty years, the (1) ___ (ASSUME) was that a broken toaster went in the bin. Repairing it cost more than replacing it, and the (2) ___ (AVAILABLE) of cheap replacements made the choice obvious.

That is changing, and not only for (3) ___ (ENVIRONMENT) reasons. Repair cafés, where volunteers fix things for free, have spread across Europe with (4) ___ (SURPRISE) speed. Their (5) ___ (POPULAR) has less to do with saving money than with a growing (6) ___ (WILLING) to throw away objects that still work.

The volunteers report an (7) ___ (EXPECT) side effect. People arrive wanting a lamp fixed and leave having learned to do it themselves, which is far more (8) ___ (USE) in the long run.

  1. 1. …the ___ was that a broken toaster went in the bin. (ASSUME)assumption. Sustantivo detrás de the.
  2. 2. …the ___ of cheap replacements. (AVAILABLE)availability. Sustantivo del adjetivo available, terminación -ity.
  3. 3. …not only for ___ reasons. (ENVIRONMENT)environmental. Va delante de reasons: adjetivo.
  4. 4. …have spread with ___ speed. (SURPRISE)surprising. Modifica a un sustantivo (speed), así que adjetivo. Si modificara a un adjetivo sería surprisingly.
  5. 5. Their ___ has less to do with saving money. (POPULAR)popularity. Sustantivo detrás de Their.
  6. 6. …a growing ___ to throw away objects that still work. (WILLING)unwillingness. Tres pasos: sustantivo, negativo y la cadena entera. Lo que crece es la reticencia a tirar cosas que funcionan.
  7. 7. The volunteers report an ___ side effect. (EXPECT)unexpected. Adjetivo y en negativo: es un efecto que no esperaban.
  8. 8. …which is far more ___ in the long run. (USE)useful. Detrás de more va adjetivo. Cuidado con useless, que diría lo contrario.

Parte 4 · Key word transformation

Completa la segunda frase para que signifique lo mismo que la primera. Usa la palabra en MAYÚSCULAS sin cambiarla, entre tres y seis palabras.

  1. Somebody has taken my umbrella. BEEN
    My umbrella ___ .has been taken. Pasiva de present perfect: has been más participio. Tres palabras. Si la frase original empieza por somebody, sospecha de una pasiva.
  2. «I will phone you on Sunday,» said Dan. WOULD
    Dan said that he ___ on Sunday.would phone me. Estilo indirecto: will pasa a would y el you pasa a me, porque quien lo cuenta es el otro.
  3. I did not know it would rain, so I did not bring an umbrella. HAD
    If I ___ it would rain, I would have brought one.had known. Tercer condicional: el paraguas ya no se puede traer. If más past perfect.
  4. It is not necessary to book a table. NEED
    You ___ a table.do not need to book. Cinco palabras. Con contracción (don’t need to book) serían cuatro y también vale.
  5. The film was so long that we left early. SUCH
    It ___ that we left early.was such a long film. Cinco palabras. De so más adjetivo a such más sustantivo, con el artículo en medio.
  6. I am sure Ana has already left. MUST
    Ana ___ already.must have left. Deducción sobre el pasado: must have más participio. Nunca must has.

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