Reading and Writing: Seven Parts, From Words to a Story
What the test asks you to do
Flyers Reading and Writing lasts about 40 minutes and has seven parts. Expect: a multiple-choice cloze where you choose A, B or C for each gap; a text with a box of words to place in gaps (there are always extra words); a matching or definition task; a longer text with short comprehension questions answered in a few words; and a writing task where you tell a story from three pictures.
Language you must control
A2 grammar carries most of the marks: present simple and continuous, past simple (regular and irregular), comparatives and superlatives, going to for plans, must/mustn't, prepositions, question words, and connectors such as but, because, so, then, after that, finally. Spelling of everyday words matters in every part.
Traps to expect
- Grammar-fit but meaning-wrong options. “She ___ the ball to her brother.” gives threw / through / thought; only one is a verb that fits.
- Extra words in the box. Six gaps, eight words: cross out each word as you use it and never force a word into two gaps.
- Too many words in short answers. If the task says “1–3 words”, a full sentence can lose the mark.
- Story writing that ignores a picture. All three pictures must appear, in order, in the past simple.
Rule of thumb
Read the whole sentence before choosing a word, then read it again with your answer inside. The word after the gap often decides the answer - “interested in”, “good at”, “listened to”.
Worked example
“Last Saturday we ___ to the beach with my uncle.” Options: go / went / going. The time phrase Last Saturday signals past simple, so the answer is went. Reading the whole sentence first removes the trap of choosing go because it “sounds right”.
Timing tip
Spend no more than about 25 minutes on Parts 1–6 so the story in Part 7 gets a real plan, a first sentence and a check.