A2 Key и B1 Preliminary (KET, PET) · Cambridge English · A2 Key (KET)

Parts 4 and 5 are the cloze 完形填空 parts: a short text with gaps. Part 4 gives three word choices per gap (vocabulary); Part 5 gives no choices at all (grammar). Together they are the "vocabulary and grammar in context" engine of A2 Key.

• Part 4: six gaps, three options each. It tests word choice: collocation 搭配, meaning, phrasal verbs 短语动词.
• Part 5: six gaps in a short email — sometimes an email and its reply. No options; you write one word per gap: an article, a preposition, a pronoun, a modal — the small grammar words.
• Memory hook: Part 4 is a shop — choose from the shelf. Part 5 is a kitchen — cook the word yourself from whatever the sentence gives you.

Three options; usually all three are "possible English", but only one fits this sentence.

• Collocation is king. We ___ a great time. A) made B) had C) took → had (have a great time is the fixed pair). The other two are fine words at the wrong party.
• Read the whole sentence, not just the gap. The answer often hides three words later: She is very fond ___ cats. → of. (fond of — the shelf only sells the pair.)
• ⚠ If two options feel right, one of them is collocating with a neighbour word you're ignoring. Re-read the gap's neighbours on both sides.

No options. One word per gap, and the menu is predictable:

• The grammar you learned in A1 and A2 is the answer key: articles (A2 topic 7), prepositions of time and place, there is, question words, modals.
• Example: I have lived here ___ 2019. → since. ___ you like tea? → Do. The A2 review pays its rent here.
• ⚠ Spelling counts. A right word spelled wrong is a wrong word. whent gets no mark and no sympathy.

1. Read the whole text first without writing anything. Know the story.
2. Then fill the gaps one by one, reading the full sentence each time.
3. Re-read the finished text. If a sentence sounds wrong in your head, it is wrong.

• Memory hook: the first read is the map; the gaps are the roads; the re-read is the drive.

• ⚠ The article gaps are yours to lose. Chinese has no articles, so a/the gaps feel invisible. They are not invisible; they are free marks wearing camouflage 伪装.
• ⚠ One word only. Part 5 takes exactly one word. "in the" in one gap is two words and zero marks.
• ⚠ Don't invent rare words. The answer is always a small common word. If your answer is serendipity, the gap wanted so.
• ⚠ Check the capital letter. A gap at the start of a sentence needs a capital. There нет there.

Last summer, I went to the beach ___ my family. We stayed ___ a small hotel near the sea. The weather ___ perfect, so we swam every day. I have never had ___ a good holiday. I will never forget it.

Answers: with · in/at · was · such. (such a good holiday — the collocation shelf again. so would need so good a holiday, and nobody has time for that.)

Answer first, then read the explanation.

1. We ___ a great time. — had. The collocation decides.
2. I have lived here ___ 2019. — since. A start line, from A2.
3. Part 5, no options — one small grammar word: article, preposition, pronoun, modal, linker.
4. A right word spelled wrong — no marks. Spelling counts.
5. "in the" in one gap — illegal. One word per gap.

Part 6 of the Reading & Writing paper: write a short message 留言 — a note, email or postcard — of at least 25 words, answering a friend's message. The friend's message always contains three things to do: usually two questions and one request or suggestion.

• Example task: your friend invites you to a picnic. Say yes. Say what food you can bring. Ask what time it starts.
• Memory hook: the task is a menu with three dishes 三道菜. Serve all three, in order, and the marks follow.
• ⚠ Under 25 words loses marks; the count includes everything, so count.
• The tone is friendly: short forms are welcome (I'm, can't, let's). This is the one exam where I'm is not just allowed but encouraged.

1. Circle the three jobs in the task before writing a word.
2. Write one or two sentences per job, in order.
3. Open with Hi / Dear + name and close with See you / Best / Write soon + your name.

A full answer to the picnic task:

Hi Sam, I'd love to come to the picnic! I can bring some fruit and drinks. What time does it start? See you, Lin

Three jobs, three sentences, 25+ words. Done. The exam rewards completeness 完整性 over beauty — a correct boring answer beats a beautiful one that forgot the drinks.

• Questions are free marks: What time? Where? Who else is coming? — one per task, word-for-word from the A1 question machine.
• ⚠ Every question needs its flip: "What time it starts?" ✗ → What time does it start? Topic A1-9's flip still collects marks.

• ⚠ Don't skip a job. Three jobs = the shape of the marks. One missing job is a missing dish; the examiners notice the empty plate.
• ⚠ Don't write a novel. 30–40 words is the sweet spot 最佳点. A 120-word masterpiece spends time Part 7 needs, and long answers grow error trees.
• ⚠ Register 语域: friendly, not formal. No Dear Sir, no Yours faithfully. It's a friend: Hi Sam — See you — Lin.
• ⚠ Check the three classics: third-person -s (it starts), articles (a picnic, the park), and verb forms after can/can't (I can bring). Sixty seconds of checking is worth more than a fourth sentence.

Your friend Mia writes: "I'm having a birthday dinner on Friday. Can you come? Tell me what food you like. And could you bring your guitar?"

Write the reply (25+ words). Cover: yes/no, the food, the guitar.

Model: Hi Mia, I'd love to come! I like fish and rice, please. I'll bring my guitar, no problem. See you on Friday! — Alex (29 words; all three dishes served.)

Answer first, then read the explanation.

1. How many jobs in a Part 6 task? — Three. Serve all three.
2. "What time it starts?" — ✗ → What time does it start? The flip collects marks.
3. 20 words — too few. Under 25 loses marks; count.
4. Dear Sir / Yours faithfully — ✗ → Hi Sam / See you. A friend, not a bank.
5. A perfect answer that forgot the guitar — loses a dish. Completeness over beauty.

Part 7: write a short story of at least 35 words from three pictures. The pictures show a beginning, a middle and an end; you supply the words.

• Look at all three pictures до writing: the story is already there — you are narrating 讲述 it, not inventing it.
• Memory hook: the pictures are a comic 漫画 with no speech bubbles. You are the bubbles.
• The marks reward: covering all three pictures, past tenses used correctly, and connectors 连接词 that move time forward.
• This is where the A2/B1 grammar pays you back: the past simple carries the events, connectors carry the time.

1. Name the pictures: a rainy street — a broken umbrella — a warm shop. Three nouns = your skeleton 骨架.
2. One or two sentences per picture, past simple, in order.
3. Add one feeling and one connector per picture: suddenly, then, after that, luckily, finally.

A model:

It was raining hard, and Tom was walking to school. Suddenly, his umbrella broke in the wind! He was cold and wet. Luckily, a small café was open, so he went in and had a hot chocolate. He arrived at school late, but happy.

Five sentences, three pictures, one broken umbrella. 60 words — safely over 35.

• ⚠ The whole story lives in the past. Don't drift into the present halfway: "He goes into the café" ✗ — He went into the café.
• One background sentence (it was raining) upgrades the story from a police report to a film. The B2 narrative cameras work at A2 too.

• ⚠ Don't describe; narrate. "There is a boy. He has an umbrella." is a description, not a story. Stories move: It was raining. His umbrella broke. He found a café.
• ⚠ Past tense consistency 时态一致 is the big mark-loser. Write, then re-read once, checking only the verbs: every event in the past simple.
• ⚠ The third picture matters. Students spend so long on picture 1 that picture 3 gets one sad sentence. Budget 时间分配: roughly equal lines per picture.
• ⚠ Spelling of story words: suddenly, finally, luckily — learn the spellings; they appear in every story you will ever write.

Author-drawn practice pictures, not official Cambridge artwork. In the exam the three pictures are real drawings; here they are the three panels above. Write 35+ words. Model:

Jack woke up late and felt terrible. He ran to the bus stop, but the bus had already left. Luckily, his neighbour saw him and drove him to school. Jack was on time — and very grateful 感激的.

Answer first, then read the explanation.

1. Minimum length? — 35 words. Over is safe; under loses marks.
2. "He goes into the café" in a past story — ✗ → went. The story lives in the past.
3. The pictures show rain — open with the background: It was raining. The film, not the police report.
4. Picture 3 gets one sad sentence — ✗ → equal lines per picture. The ending carries marks.
5. suddenly / finally / luckily — learn the spellings. They appear in every story.

Listening Parts 4 and 5 change the question. Parts 1–3 asked for details; Parts 4–5 ask for the gist 主旨 — the main idea, the speaker's feeling, the purpose of the talk — and for matching 配对.

• Part 4: five short talks or conversations, each with one question: What is the speaker doing? How does she feel? Why is he calling?
• Part 5: one longer conversation and a matching task — match five items to eight lettered options, A–H (e.g. five friends to the activities they choose). Three options are never used.
• Memory hook: Parts 1–3 ask what exactly? Parts 4–5 ask so what? The answer is the meaning, not the words.

Each short recording has one question about the big picture.

• The questions are usually: What is the speaker's job? How does the girl feel? Why is the man calling? What are they talking about?
• ⚠ The detail words are bait. "I love the smell of fresh bread in the bakery" — the question is What is her job? She is a baker, not a customer who likes bread. The smell is bait; the job is the answer.
• Listen for the purpose verbs: I'm calling to apologise / to invite / to complain / to remind. The verb after calling to is the answer.
• Feelings come through tone 语气 and adjectives: "That's fantastic!" (delighted), "I don't believe it…" (surprised), "Oh no, not again" (annoyed).

A conversation where people choose things: five friends choosing from eight activities (A–H); five guests, eight dishes. Three options will be left over — nobody chooses them.

• The extra options are not decoration: they hold the rejected choices. "I wanted the pasta, but they're out of it, so the fish." → the fish. The pasta stays in the list, waiting for you.
• Strategy: as each person speaks, write a mark 记号 by their choice — a tick for chosen, a cross for rejected. Don't write the final letter until they finish speaking.
• ⚠ The rejected options are the answer list's traps. Each rejected dish will sit in the options, waiting for you.

• ⚠ Gist questions punish word-catching. If you grab bread and answer customer, the bakery trick worked. Ask yourself: what is the whole sentence about?
• ⚠ Feelings are not facts. How does she feel? is answered by adjectives and tone, not by events. The event is the evidence; the feeling is the answer.
• ⚠ Matching needs a system. Ticks and crosses while listening; letters at the end. Students who assign letters mid-sentence meet the correction and lose both marks.
• ⚠ Don't panic at one missed item. The parts are independent; a missed gist question is one mark, not a disaster. The next recording starts fresh — so should you.

Teacher-read rehearsal 排练: no recording here — your teacher reads each text aloud twice, like the exam, and you listen without reading. The transcript is the script, not the task.

A girl says: "Hi Dad, I'm at the station. The six o'clock train was cancelled 取消, so I'm taking the seven one. Don't wait dinner for me."

Why is she calling? A) to buy a ticket B) to give news about her journey C) to invite her father to dinner. Answer: B. The ticket and the dinner are bait; the purpose is the news.

Matching: "Tom wanted the pasta, but they're out of it, so the fish. Anna never eats fish; she'll have the salad." → Tom: fish, Anna: salad. The pasta sits in the options, waiting.

Answer first, then read the explanation.

1. Gist question: How does she feel? — Listen for adjectives and tone, not the events.
2. "I'm calling to apologise." — the purpose verb is the answer: to apologise.
3. "I wanted the pasta, but they're out of it, so the fish." — the fish. Rejected options are traps.
4. In matching, assign letters mid-sentence? — No: ticks and crosses first, letters at the end.
5. One missed gist question — one mark, not a disaster. The next recording starts fresh; so should you.