B2 First Reading and Use of English Explained: What Each Part Tests
Hiroki Obara · DeveloperAlphaGeorgeHow-To
The B2 First (FCE) Reading and Use of English paper lasts 1 hour 15 minutes and has seven parts and 52 questions. You read 2,200 to 2,500 words in total, and this one paper makes up 40% of the total marks (official format page). It carries more weight than any of the other three papers.
The exam as a whole and how to study for it are covered in How to Prepare for B2 First (FCE), and Writing in B2 First (FCE) Writing: How to Structure the Essay. This post goes through Reading and Use of English part by part and looks at what each one is testing. Everything about the format and marking was checked against the 2026 handbook for teachers. I don’t reproduce any questions here; to see what they look like, try the sample papers on the official site.
The seven parts at a glance
| Part | Task | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | Multiple-choice cloze | 8 | 8 |
| Part 2 | Open cloze | 8 | 8 |
| Part 3 | Word formation | 8 | 8 |
| Part 4 | Key word transformation | 6 | 12 |
| Part 5 | Multiple choice | 6 | 12 |
| Part 6 | Gapped text | 6 | 12 |
| Part 7 | Multiple matching | 10 | 10 |
That is 52 questions and 70 marks in all. Reading and Use of English appear as two separate scores on your Statement of Results. The 2026 handbook says the Reading section consists of Parts 1, 5, 6 and 7, and the Use of English section of Parts 2, 3 and 4. Because Part 1 tests vocabulary, preparation books often group it with Use of English, but this is how the handbook divides them.
Part 1: choosing between words with similar meanings
A text has eight gaps, and you choose the word that fits each one from four options. According to the handbook, the focus is mainly vocabulary: idioms, collocations, fixed phrases, phrasal verbs and fine differences in meaning.
The most useful advice in the handbook is to read past the gap. Of four words with similar meanings, often only one fits the preposition or verb form that comes after. Learning words together with the words they usually go with, rather than one at a time, helps with this.
Part 2: thinking of one word yourself
A text has eight gaps, and you write one word in each, with no options. The focus is mainly grammar: articles, auxiliaries, prepositions, pronouns, verb forms, linkers and words inside fixed phrases.
The handbook sets out several rules. The answer is always a single word. Contractions such as didn’t or he’ll count as two words, so they can’t be used (can’t = cannot is the one exception). Spelling must be correct. Some gaps have more than one acceptable answer, but if you write two answers and one is wrong, you get no mark.
Small words like articles, prepositions and relative pronouns are easy to understand when you read them, but can be hard to produce when you have to write them yourself.
Part 3: changing the form of a given word
A text has eight gaps, and next to each one is a stem word in capital letters. You change that word to fill the gap. According to the handbook, this tests not only prefixes and suffixes but also internal changes, such as long to length, and compounds. The stem word always has to change; writing it as given never earns the mark.
Watch out for plurals and negatives. You may know a noun goes in the gap, but the meaning of the sentence may need it in the plural. You may know it is an adjective, but the surrounding text may need a negative form with un- or in-.
How to practise word formation
The handbook recommends knowing the range of words that can come from one stem: compete, competition, competitor, competitive, competitively, and the negative uncompetitive.
One practice is this: when you learn a new word, check its noun, verb, adjective, adverb and negative forms in a dictionary and write them down together. You don’t need to do it for every word. The words you meet in your reading that commonly change form are enough. And learn them by writing. In Parts 2 to 4, an answer that isn’t spelled correctly gets no mark, so recognising a word is not enough.
Part 4: making a sentence with the same meaning, using a key word
Each question has a first sentence, a key word, and a second sentence with only its beginning and end given. You fill the gap with two to five words, including the key word, so that the second sentence means the same as the first. There are six questions worth two marks each.
The rules are strict. The handbook says the key word must not be changed in any way; if you don’t use it or you change it, you get no marks. More than five words gets no marks. Contractions count as their full form (didn’t is two words, did not). On the other hand, the mark scheme splits each answer into two parts with one mark each, so a half-right answer can still earn a mark.
How to practise transformations
The handbook recommends practising paraphrase: rewriting sentences from texts in other words, finding synonyms and changing grammatical structures.
One option is to keep a notebook of the transformation patterns that come up often: active and passive, direct and reported speech, I wish and if only, too and enough, phrasal verbs and single-word verbs. When you get a question wrong, copy out the full correct sentence and file it under its pattern. That makes it less likely you’ll make the same mistake on a similar question.
Part 5: reading a longer text, down to the writer’s opinion
One text is followed by six four-option questions. According to the handbook, the text may come from a modern novel or an article, and questions can ask about detail, main ideas, the opinion or attitude of the writer or characters, tone, purpose, the meaning of a word from context, and what a pronoun refers to. The questions follow the order of the text, and the last may ask about the text as a whole.
The handbook gives two pieces of advice. First, read the text before trying to absorb all the options: three of the four are wrong, so memorising them all doesn’t help. Second, beware of word spotting, choosing an option just because it contains a word that also appears in the text.
Part 6: putting removed sentences back
Six sentences have been taken out of a text and placed in jumbled order after it, together with a seventh sentence that doesn’t fit anywhere. You decide where each one came from. This part tests how texts are structured.
The mistake the handbook warns about is choosing a sentence that fits what comes before the gap without checking that it leads logically into what comes after. Useful clues include words for time, cause and effect, giving examples, contrasting arguments, pronouns and consistency of tenses. In this part, checking what each pronoun before and after the gap refers to can also help.
Part 7: finding the matching section across several texts
Ten questions come before one long text or up to six shorter ones. You find the section that matches each question. The same option can be the answer to more than one question.
This part calls for skimming and scanning to find specific information quickly. Here too, the handbook warns against choosing an answer just because of similar vocabulary. Check that the whole of what the question says is actually expressed in that section.
Dividing the 75 minutes
The handbook says you may do the parts in any order. For the paper-based exam, though, it suggests following the order of the question paper, which helps avoid putting answers in the wrong place on the answer sheet. In the paper-based exam no extra time is given for filling in the answer sheet. In the computer-based exam, a timer on the screen shows how much time is left.
Here is one possible split:
| Part | Time |
|---|---|
| Parts 1 to 4 | 25 minutes |
| Part 5 | 15 minutes |
| Part 6 | 12 minutes |
| Part 7 | 15 minutes |
| Checking | 8 minutes |
In Parts 1 to 4, you usually either see the answer quickly or don’t find it however long you think. Mark the questions you are unsure of, move on, and come back to them in the checking time. Parts 5 to 7 involve a lot of reading, and this is where time can run short. In practice, time each part separately so you can see where you spend too long; that makes it easier to settle on your own split for the day.
Dictionaries are not allowed. The handbook recommends practising guessing the meaning of unknown words from context.
Getting used to Use of English tasks with AlphaGeorge
AlphaGeorge, an app I make for iPhone and iPad, is for preparing for the Cambridge exams. The course has 66 units across six levels from A1 to C2, and the 10 units of B2 Upper-intermediate match B2 First (FCE).
These are the question types that relate to Reading and Use of English:
- Multiple-choice gap fill: choose the word that fits a gap in a sentence. It appears at every level and is practice for Part 1.
- Word formation: from the B2 units on. You change the word in brackets to the right form to complete a sentence. In the exam, Part 3 has eight gaps in a text; in the app, it is one sentence at a time.
- Key Word Transformation: from the B2 units on. You rewrite a sentence using a given word. In the exam, Part 4 asks for two to five words in a gap; in the app, you rewrite the whole sentence.
- Open gap fill: in the C1 units and above.
- Reading: in the grammar and reading lesson, you read a text and answer multiple-choice or true/false questions about it.
After each answer you see whether it was right, with an explanation in English and Japanese. The app doesn’t have tasks like Parts 6 and 7, where you put sentences back into a long text or search across several texts. One combination is to practise the grammar and vocabulary pieces in the app every day, and to do full 75-minute practice runs with the official sample papers. The app’s interface and explanations are in English and Japanese.
A diagnostic test of about five minutes decides which level you start at. AlphaGeorge is free to start, with ads and a limit of hearts. AlphaGeorge Premium, a monthly or yearly subscription, removes ads, makes hearts unlimited and lets you replay finished lessons. Keeping up daily practice is in AlphaGeorge Tips, and Getting Started with AlphaGeorge walks through the first session.
