FCE Sample Papers
FCE Sample Papers
E X A M I N AT I O N S , C E RT I F I C AT E S & D I P L O M A S
FCE
F I R S T C E R T I F I C AT E I N E N G L I S H
S A M P L E PA P E R S
2 Part 1 You are going to read a newspaper article about a day in the life of a footballer. Choose the most suitable heading from the list A-I for each part (1-7) of the article. There is one extra heading which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0). Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.
A B C D E F G H
Domestic matters Time off All players are different Putting in the practice Working together Keeping my standard up What makes a good player Not my choice
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I dont usually get up till 8.30. On a match day Ill get up even later. Ill sit in bed, watch breakfast TV for a while, and then Ill go down, get the mail, have a coffee and read the papers. Ill have a wash and then Ill get ready to go to the club. Rangers is probably the only club where the players have to come in every morning wearing a shirt and tie; its a traditional thing and I quite like it really.
1
The matches themselves are always different from each other. You go through a lot of emotions during a game but really its a question of concentration. Youve got just 90 minutes to give everything youve got and take every chance you can. Theres luck and theres being in the right place at the right time, but you cant make use of those without concentration and responsibility.
5
Sports writers often talk about age but its not something that bothers me. Im 30 and feel fantastic. I missed a few games last year due to injury and my place was taken by a young player at Rangers. We are friends but he is a threat to my position. My job is to score goals and if I dont Ill be replaced.
6
Every day except Sunday, Ill be at the club by 10. Its a short drive but Ill still usually be a few minutes late. Ive a bad reputation for being late, and Ive been fined many times. Each day of training is in preparation for the next match. Well do some weight training and some running to build up stamina. Players work on particular aspects of the game but tactics are usually left till match day.
2
I try not to let football rule my home life but my wife would probably disagree; last year we only got three weeks holiday. Its difficult for Allison, my wife, but I think shes learned to accept it. She likes football and comes to the matches. I do like to go out and see friends but I always have dinner with my wife.
7
After training Ill usually have a sauna and then well have lunch: salads and pasta, stuff like that. In the afternoon I just try to relax. I started playing golf with the rest of the lads, and I love horse racing, too. My other great hobby is music which helps me to escape the pressure of work.
3
Well usually go to bed about midnight. Sometimes I do worry when I think of the day it all ends and I stop scoring. That scares me and I cant see myself playing for any other team, either, but the reality is that the players dont make the decisions. If someone makes your club a good enough offer for you, theyll accept it. But I try not to let things like that bother me.
The best thing in football is scoring goals - and Im a top goal-scorer. It feels absolutely fantastic but I never feel above the rest of the team; if I did, I wouldnt last two minutes in the dressing room. Any success I have is a team success. My idol in the past was always Kenny Dalglish. My idols now are the other Rangers players.
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4 Part 2 You are going to read a magazine article about a book. For Questions 8-14, choose the correct answer A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.
Natural CLASSIC
of Mongolia. What follows is a grand adventure centred on the city of Karakorum, where the great Mongol chief Genghis Khan was then based.
The book combines adventure, mystery, honour, friendship, danger, suffering - all seen through the eyes of the young hero, Jalair. I still find this fantasy a thrilling read. Jalairs great love for the birds was enviable and inspiring. But most of all it was the sense of place that stayed with me. The book gives the reader an idea of the vast open spaces of central Asia and its huge skies, without the use of the long descriptive passages that would bore a child. There are no boundaries. The emptiness of the Gobi Desert, the Tian Shan Each month we ask one of our experts to tell us mountains and the excitement of riding through what wildlife book - novel, guide or textbook - forests and over rolling hills fascinated me. has most influenced him or her. Here, Martha Holmes, marine biologist, TV presenter and film The book gave me more than hawks, horses and a desire for wild places. It also gave me a set of producer, reveals all. values. The Mongols in The Golden Hawks were uninterested in possessions, a Im a very keen reader, but selecting the book totally with a natural-history theme which has characteristic that is absolutely essential for influenced me most was some challenge, until I people who spent their lives travelling from place thought back to my childhood. Then it was easy. to place. They were never mean. Generosity, goodwill and optimism were highly valued, hard Where the book came from is a mystery, and I work was enjoyed and the rest was pure fun. have never met anyone who has heard of it. It is They simply loved life. Rita Richies The Golden Hawks of Genghis Khan. I read it when I was about 10 years old and Two years ago, I fulfilled a life-long ambition and went riding in Mongolias mountains. I was I remember to this day the effect it had on me. not disappointed. Set in 1218, it is a story of a rich boy whose parents are dead. He is growing up in the splendid city of Samarkand and has a fascination for hawks, those magnificent hunting birds. There is a great deal of mystery surrounding his past, but he is led to believe that a band of Mongols killed his father to steal a rare type of bird - the golden hawk. Determined to get these birds back, he runs away from Samarkand and joins a group of people travelling to the country
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5 8 When first asked to choose a book, Martha Holmes A B C D was influenced by the experts. chose one she had read recently. had difficulty in making a decision. was pleased to have been approached.
What does it in line 9 refer to? A B C D the choice Marthas childhood the book the theme
10 Martha says the book The Golden Hawks of Genghis Khan A B C D was recommended by a friend. was very popular when she was a child. is known to very few people. is one of many mystery books she has read.
11
The main interest of the hero of the book is A B C D what happened to his parents. the desire to see different countries. the beauty of his homeland. his passion for particular birds.
12 Where does most of the story take place? A B C D in Samarkand in Karakorum on the way to Karakorum in the Tian Shan mountains
13 What did Martha enjoy about the book? A B C D the range of characters the geographical setting the descriptive writing the changes of atmosphere
14 What values did Martha learn from the book? A B C D the importance of a sense of humour how to be a successful traveller the need to protect your goods how to get the most out of life
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6 Part 3 You are going to read a magazine article about an actress. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose the most suitable paragraph from the list A-H for each part (15-20) of the article. There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0). Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.
I didnt like school and I spent most of my time in my head. One of the teachers noticed that. Shed say, Im not going to repeat that for Nyree Porter because shes not listening anyway. No doubt shell let me have the sketch shes doing under the desk.
Her mother also did well at school. She became a gifted painter and was, as her father always said, The prettiest girl in New Zealand.
Against hundreds of other actors, Nyree was given the part. She had no hesitation in giving up everything to act and within two years had been brought to England by a famous film producer.
By the time she left school, Nyree had passed all the required exams for teaching ballet. She had her own dance studio and enjoyed her work. But something told her that at some stage she would have to leave New Zealand to find full satisfaction.
Nyree was born on the north island of New Zealand. Her father was a butcher who later became a developer and a businessman. She was given the Maori name of Ngaire which was later changed to its present English form as nobody could pronounce it.
Sadly, that didnt happen. My parents were like oil and water, explains Nyree. They simply couldnt live together. My fathers work kept him away from home but I think it was partly because he found it difficult to live with my mother.
That was followed by another successful show called Look Whos Here at the Fortune Theatre and a BBC television series, Madame Bovary. Four years later, in 1967, came The Forsyte Saga, the series which became addictive, not just in Britain, but all over the world.
It stopped me dead and instead of joining the other performers I walked down to the front of the stage to find out what that noise was.
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Nyrees Story
After an upbringing in New Zealand and a spell acting in her own country, Nyree Dawn Porter made London her home. Interview by Alan OKelly.
Nyree Dawn Porter made her first stage appearance at the age of three. Playing the part of a ladybird in an amateur production of Noahs Ark, she walked onto the stage and into the lights to delighted applause and laughter. 0 H 18 I was acting in a local amateur production when a woman came to my dressing room and asked me if I had ever considered acting as a career. She was the wife of a leading actor at the New Zealand National Theatre. Her car had broken down outside and that was the only reason she had come in. She arranged for me to try for a role in an American comedy called The Solid Gold Cadillac. 19 I loved London and my lucky break came when I was given a letter of introduction to Hazel Vincent Wallace at the Leatherhead Theatre. I got a job in a Christmas show, both acting and dancing. 20 Nyree Dawn Porter has adopted England, and we have adopted her. She has lived here ever since, although she does visit her old home and regularly works in Australia.
That noise has charmed her ever since and in a long, successful career, both on the theatre stage and on television, she has received plenty of it. 15 Nyree speaks lovingly of her father Ken, who was warm and affectionate and loved music passionately. For a long time she was an only child, but when her sister, Merle Isabel, came along, the happy family should have been complete. 16 As a result, Nyree remembers her childhood as being sad but productive. She had a nervous stammer and was so shy and quiet that her teachers became extremely worried about her. She found her release through books, painting and ballet. 17 A teacher named Jim Goodall came to her rescue by encouraging her to do well and by making her president of the drama club. A second influential person was another teacher, who had spent a lot of time in England and France. Her enthusiasm helped Nyree to use her natural gift for French and she also encouraged her to act.
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8 Part 4 You are going to read a magazine article about various people who did courses later in life. For Questions 21-35, choose from the people (A-D). There is an example at the beginning (0). Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.
A B C
She recommends the course she took. She felt relaxed when doing a course. She felt obliged to do a course. Her training made it hard for her to do some of the work on a course. Her colleagues attitude towards her has changed. She feels confident about the future. She was put off education earlier in life. The way classes were organised suited her. Her plans became more ambitious while doing a course. She wasted her time when she was at college before. She realised she had thought of a strong commercial idea. Her teacher provided practical advice. She found her experience of life useful when doing a course. She enjoyed the company of the others taking a course. She has learnt not to be nervous in certain circumstances. A success encouraged her to study other subjects.
0 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
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Deborah left school without any qualifications and ended up ten years later with a degree. Obtaining the degree gave her an enormous desire to learn more. Since then, Deborah has enrolled on courses ranging from pottery to African cinema to salsa dancing. She says: I never liked school. They didnt teach me to enjoy learning and Im sure this experience can destroy many peoples desire to learn more later in life. Theres so much in life to learn as you get older, it becomes a real pleasure. There are no pressures you dont have to prove anything. You are there because you want to be. There is also something special about spending time with people who share a common passion. You dont know their names or anything about them, but all the barriers are broken down because everyone has the same objective.
Sonya did a three-day intensive desk-top publishing course in May. Sonya, 24, who works as a publicity assistant at a bank, says: I needed some skills to make me better at my job. Writing reports is an essential part of my job and so the presentation of my work is important. The course, held at the London College of Printing, covers both practice and theory. Sonya says: It was quite demanding, they really get you thinking. Because there were only six or seven in the group, we got more attention and it was easier to ask questions. Now my reports appear more professional and I can produce them quicker. A lot of people have said Your works improved, and it has made me get on better with people in the office because Im in a privileged position, having knowledge others dont have.
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ANSWER
Part 2 Part 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 D B E G F A H 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 C A C D B B D
Part 3 15 16 17 18 19 20 E F A D C G
Part 4 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 B D A D C B D C A C C A B C B
Questions 1-20 are given two marks each, and Questions 21-35 are given one mark each. The total score is adjusted to give a mark out of 40.
PAPER 1 READING
ANSWER SHEET
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BLANK PAGE
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