C2 Proficiency Parte 1: multiple choice cloze

La parte 1 del C2 Proficiency: el multiple choice cloze, con lo que de verdad se examina (registro, expresiones hechas y matiz) y un ejercicio con soluciones explicadas.

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La parte 1 del C2 parece la del C1, pero no lo es. Aquí las cuatro opciones suelen ser palabras que existen y encajan gramaticalmente. Lo que decide es el matiz, el registro o que la palabra forme parte de una expresión hecha.

Qué se examina de verdad

TipoEjemploCómo se reconoce
Expresión hechabear in mind, take for grantedLas otras tres opciones son sinónimos que nunca aparecen en esa expresión.
Registropurchase frente a buyEl texto es formal o irónico y solo una opción encaja en ese tono.
Matiz de intensidadconcerned, alarmed, terrifiedTodas significan lo mismo con distinta fuerza; el contexto marca cuánta.
Colocación poco frecuentea marked improvementLa combinación es fija aunque no sea la que se te ocurre primero.

El método cambia respecto al C1: aquí no sirve pensar qué palabra pondrías tú, porque probablemente pondrías la más común y la respuesta suele ser la menos común. Lee la frase entera, decide el tono, y descarta las que suenen demasiado neutras.

Ejercicio 1 · Elige la opción correcta

Ocho preguntas de nivel C2.

  1. The proposal was rejected out of ___.turnhandplaceorderout of hand — de plano, sin considerarlo.
  2. She has a ___ for languages.talentgiftflairskilla flair for — es la collocation idiomática. Las otras existen pero piden otra preposición o suenan planas.
  3. His remarks were entirely ___ the point.beyondaboveunderbesidebeside the point — irrelevante.
  4. They were caught ___ guard by the announcement.offoutupovercaught off guard — pillados desprevenidos.
  5. The report ___ light on a long-standing problem.throwsshedsgivescastssheds light on — arrojar luz. Cast va con doubt, no con light.
  6. He paid lip ___ to the idea but did nothing.wordsrespectserviceattentionpay lip service to — decir que apoyas algo sin hacer nada.
  7. The decision was, to all ___ and purposes, final.meansendswaysintentsto all intents and purposes — a todos los efectos.
  8. She took the criticism in her ___.stridesteppacewalktake something in one stride — encajarlo sin inmutarse.

Ejercicio 2 · Multiple choice cloze

Elige la palabra que encaja en cada hueco.

On the difficulty of describing a smell

Of all the senses, smell is the one that language handles worst. English has a rich vocabulary for what things look like and a serviceable one for how they sound, but when it (1) to describing an odour, most speakers fall back on comparison: it smells like rain, like a hospital, like my grandmother house.

This is not a (2) of English in particular. Studies across dozens of languages have found the same pattern, with a handful of striking (3) . Speakers of certain languages of the Malay Peninsula have a set of abstract smell terms that behave much like colour words, and they use them with a (4) that European speakers cannot match.

What remains in (5) is why. One camp holds that the vocabulary follows the culture: where smell matters for hunting or for ritual, the words appear. Another argues that the causal arrow (6) the other way, and that having the words is what makes the distinctions available in the first place.

The debate has been (7) more heated than the evidence really warrants, which is often a sign that something else is at stake. In this case what is at stake is an old question, dressed in new clothes, about whether the limits of our language really do (8) the limits of our world.

  1. Hueco 1getscomesturnsgoeswhen it comes to = cuando se trata de. Expresión fija.
  2. Hueco 2lackdefectshortcomingabsenceshortcoming = carencia, limitación. Encaja con of English in particular.
  3. Hueco 3exclusionsomissionsrejectionsexceptionsexceptions = excepciones al patrón.
  4. Hueco 4consistencyconstancypersistenceregularityconsistency = coherencia entre hablantes al usar los mismos términos.
  5. Hueco 5argumentdisputequarrelconflictin dispute = en discusión. Es la colocación con remain.
  6. Hueco 6showsaimspointsmarkspoints the other way = la flecha causal apunta al revés.
  7. Hueco 7largelygreatlyhighlyconsiderablyconsiderably more heated — considerably modifica comparativos; highly no.
  8. Hueco 8setputplacefixset the limits = fijar los límites.

Ejercicio 3 · Multiple choice cloze

Elige la palabra que encaja en cada hueco.

The archive that was never meant to be read

When a company folds, its paperwork is normally destroyed, and nobody (1) it a second thought. The internal memos of a failed shipping firm in Hamburg survived only because the building changed (2) three times without anyone clearing the basement.

Historians who work on such material are (3) aware of its peculiar honesty. These were documents written by people who assumed that only their colleagues would ever see them, and who therefore had no (4) to perform. The result is a record notably (5) of the self justification that fills official correspondence.

This is also, of course, what makes the material ethically awkward. The clerk who wrote a bitter note about his manager in 1954 could not have (6) that it would be quoted in a book. Some archivists take the (7) that a document created in the expectation of privacy retains some claim to it, even decades later; others regard that position as unworkable, since it would (8) most of what we know about ordinary working life.

  1. Hueco 1takesgivesmakespaysgive it a second thought = pararse a pensarlo.
  2. Hueco 2ownerskeepershandsholderschange hands = cambiar de dueño. Expresión fija.
  3. Hueco 3sharplyseverelyintenselyacutelyacutely aware es la colocación habitual.
  4. Hueco 4incentiveencouragementmotivestimulusno incentive to perform = ningún interés en actuar de cara a la galería.
  5. Hueco 5clearfreeemptycleanfree of = libre de.
  6. Hueco 6forecastpredictedforeseenexpectedforeseen — could not have foreseen es la forma natural aquí.
  7. Hueco 7opinionbeliefideaviewtake the view that = sostener que.
  8. Hueco 8rule output offcall offtake outrule out = descartar.

Preguntas frecuentes

¿Cómo se prepara esta parte?
Leyendo prensa británica y anotando las combinaciones raras, no las palabras sueltas. Es la parte que menos se puede improvisar.
¿Por qué fallo si conozco las cuatro palabras?
Precisamente por eso. El C2 no examina si conoces la palabra, sino si sabes en qué compañía aparece.