Use of English PRO

Exam Preparation

Preparing for an English exam is (0) AN important step for students who want to improve their language skills. Many learners choose to study regularly, because success usually depends (1) .......... good habits and careful practice. It is also helpful to read texts similar (2) .......... those found in official exam materials. By doing this, students become more familiar with the style of questions and the level of difficulty. Teachers often advise learners to think carefully before writing, so (3) .......... can avoid simple mistakes. Another useful idea is to practise under timed conditions, (4) .......... this helps students manage stress during the real test. Some students worry too much (5) .......... getting every answer perfect, but it is better to stay calm and focused. In the end, anyone who prepares well is more likely to do (6) .......... in the exam and feel confident on the day.

About Use of English Open Cloze — Cambridge English B1

In this Cambridge English B1 Use of English Open Cloze exercise you read a short text and think of the one word that best fits each of the 6 gaps.

Open Cloze tests grammar and common fixed expressions — articles, prepositions, pronouns, auxiliary verbs and linking words. Only one word goes in each gap, and it is usually a small grammatical word rather than vocabulary.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many gaps are in this B1 Open Cloze exercise?

There are 6 gaps, and you must write exactly one word in each.

What kind of words go in the gaps?

Usually grammatical words: prepositions, articles, pronouns, auxiliaries, relative pronouns and parts of fixed phrases.

What is the best strategy for Open Cloze?

Read the whole text first for meaning, then look closely at the words around each gap — the answer almost always depends on the immediate grammar.

Keep practising Cambridge English B1

Use of English at every level

More Cambridge English B1 skills

Cambridge English Exam Resources

More Cambridge English exam preparation tools from our family of apps:

Made with by Shining Apps

The best Cambridge English apps ever

What to do

This part consists of a short text with a series of gaps. There are no words from which to choose the answers, candidates have to think of a word which fits the gap correctly.

Errors in punctuation are ignored, although spelling must be correct.

Contractions (e.g. don’t, we’ve, won’t) count as two words. However, can’t is a contraction of cannot, which is one word.

Sometimes, there is more than one correct answer. Cambridge will always account for this and all options will be accepted. However, you should not write more than one answer.

Don't spend time in a word you don't know. Wasting time on this activity might cost you points later in the exam because you won’t have enough time to do other tasks well.

Strategy

  1. Read the title and the whole text so that you understand what it is about.
  2. Read the whole sentence in which the gap occurs, to look for clues as to what kind of word you need.
  3. Check the words before and after each gap and look for grammatical collocations.
  4. Remember you must write only one word.
  5. You are never required to write a contraction. If you think the answer is a contraction, it must be wrong, so think again.
  6. Read the whole text through once you have completed it to make sure you have not missed any connectors, plurals or negatives.