C1 Advanced Exam Guide: Gapped Text
Reading & Use of English Paper
Overview
Context: Part 7 of the Reading & Use of English paper features a challenging gapped text task, where a long text, typically non-fiction, has six paragraphs removed and jumbled up, along with an additional distractor paragraph.
Task: Candidates must discern where each paragraph was originally located in the text. This part requires a deep comprehension of text structure, cohesion, coherence, and overall meaning.
Objective: To assess the candidate's ability to understand and reconstruct the structure and flow of a complex text.
Scoring & Marks: The six questions are worth twelve points, so two points for each. There are 78 points available for the whole Reading & Use of English paper.
How to Approach
- Comprehensive Reading: Candidates should first read the entire gapped text to grasp its overall structure and main theme. Understanding the flow of ideas and information before and after each gap is crucial.
- Logical Selection: The task involves careful selection between paragraphs, focusing on the most logical and cohesive fit. Practising with a range of texts can help develop this skill.
- Linguistic Device Recognition: Try to identify linguistic markers like time phrases, cause and effect signals, contrasting arguments, and pronouns, which aid in understanding text cohesion and coherence.
- Avoiding Surface Matches: Don't simply match words or phrases in the options with those in the text. The focus should be on the development of ideas and events, rather than on recognising individual words.
Assessment Focus
This part tests the ability to follow and reconstruct the development of ideas, opinions, and events in a text, going beyond mere recognition of words to a deeper understanding of text structure.
Tips
- Build familiarity with different types of non-fiction texts, focusing on their structure and development.
- Practise identifying key transitions and markers in texts that signal changes in ideas or themes.
- Practise with texts that require careful consideration of thematic continuity and logical progression.
- Try and participate in group discussions or exercises where you dissect texts, focusing on how each part contributes to the overall message or theme.
How It Looks
Student Suggestion
"I would cut up magazine articles into paragraphs and then come back the next day and try to re-order them. Then I would check with a photo on my phone of the original article!" - Diego Gonz�lez
