Use of English - Multiple Choice
C1
Cambridge English C1 Exam
For questions 1-8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. Click the gaps to type your answer.
Margins in Elite Sport
At the top end of professional sport, the difference between winning and losing is often measured in (0) TENTHS of a second. That is why athletes and coaches are constantly looking for ways to (1) .......... an edge, even when the training plan already seems flawless. Yet the more data teams collect, the easier it is to lose (2) .......... of what actually matters: decision-making under pressure, recovery, and the ability to perform when everything is on the line. In recent years, some clubs have tried to (3) .......... the gap by copying the routines of champions, only to discover that what works in one dressing room can fall flat in another. Culture, trust and leadership are hard to quantify, but they can (4) .......... or break a season. A squad may look unbeatable on paper, but if key players (5) .......... out with each other, the whole project can unravel. Fans, meanwhile, tend to judge a manager on results alone, but insiders know that form can (6) .......... for reasons that have little to do with tactics: a congested fixture list, a minor injury that never quite heals, or a striker who suddenly can’t (7) .......... the target. In that context, the best teams are those that keep their nerve and refuse to (8) .......... to panic when momentum shifts.
About Use of English Multiple Choice — Cambridge English C1
This is a Cambridge English C1 Use of English Multiple Choice exercise. Read the text and decide which word — A, B, C or D — best fits each of the 8 gaps.
Multiple Choice questions test your vocabulary in context: collocations, phrasal verbs, linking words and words with similar but slightly different meanings. Practising C1 exercises like this builds the instinct to choose the right option quickly in the real exam.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many questions does this C1 Multiple Choice exercise have?
It has 8 gaps, and each gap gives you four options (A–D) to choose from.
What does Cambridge Use of English Multiple Choice test?
It focuses on vocabulary in context — collocations, phrasal verbs, fixed phrases and words that look similar but are not interchangeable.
How can I get better at Multiple Choice?
Read widely, learn words together with the words they combine with, and always read the whole sentence — including the words after the gap — before choosing your answer.
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What to do
In this part, you read a text with eight gaps and choose the best word from four options to fit each gap.
Nothing prepares you for this test better than reading.
Read a lot. Candidates who often read in English (for work, for fun) find this part of the test manageable, while those who never read tend to find it very hard.
If you are 100% sure that two of the 4 choices are completely identical, then neither can be the answer. There is always only one word that fits grammatically and has the right meaning.
Usually the correct option will be part of a fixed phrase or collocation, a phrasal verb, a connector or the only word that fits grammatically in the gap.
Strategy
- Read the title and the whole text quickly to understand its general meaning before you attempt the task.
- Check the words before and after the gap.
- Choose the best option.
- When you have finished, read the text again with the words inserted to check that it makes sense.