How does the FCE Reading part look like?

19 maja 2026

1. Description of the Reading paper

Reading is the first part of the exam and it consists of four parts. Each part may contain one longer text or two to five shorter related texts. It takes 1 hour and 15 minutes and during such a short time you will have to read all the texts, carry out different comprehension tasks and transfer your answers to the answer sheet.

There are various kinds of texts: advertisements, newspaper and magazine articles, stories, messages, reports and informative material such as leaflets, guides or manuals.

The questions you are expected to answer are also different, so you needn’t understand each

text in detail and comprehend every single word. Sometimes it is enough to understand the main points of the passage or deduce its meaning. It depends on the task and you should know that each part of ‘Reading’ asks you to do something different:

READING PAPER

	PART 1	PART 2	PART 3	PART 4
T A S K	multiple matching	multiple choice	gapped text	multiple matching / multiple choice
Description	You are given a list of headings (there is often an additional one which you won’t use) and you have to read the text and match the proper heading with the suitable part of the text.	You have to read the text which is followed by questions with four answers (A,B,C,D) You choose the correct answer.	You are given a list of jumbled paragraphs or sentences (A-H) and a texts with gaps. Your task is to fit the proper sentences / paragraphs back into the text. (there is one extra sentence!)	You must find different pieces of information in the text(s) and match the questions with the proper part of the text. There may also be a multiple choice question at the end checking the general understanding of the text(s)
Number of questions	6 or 7 plus the example	7 or 8	6 or 7 plus the example	between 13 -15 plus the example

2. How it is marked

There are 35 questions in the Reading paper, however they are not worth the same number of points. Questions in Parts 1,2 and 3 carry two marks and questions in Part 4 carry one mark.

The total mark for the Reading paper is 40 points. It is equal to the other four papers and therefore gives 20 % of the final mark on the examination.

3. How to prepare for the Reading Paper

The best way to prepare for this part of the exam is to read as much as you can. Try to find all possible kinds of texts in English and read them whenever time allows. You can read the texts from your English textbooks, newspapers and magazines. The idea is to get used to texts of different styles. Remember to practice two types of reading:

– reading for general information (You want to find out what the text is about in general. You read without understanding every single word, but guess the meaning of unknown words from the context.)

– reading for specific information (When you are supposed to look for precise information. First you may practice this kind of reading by looking for a topic sentence in each paragraph of the text. Use a dictionary to look up words that you don’t understand, which will help you to increase your range of vocabulary.)

GENERAL TIPS FOR THE EXAMINATION:

Before you begin to answer the questions remember to read the instructions very carefully.
You can get the idea of what each text is going to be about by looking at its layout, headings or illustrations, sometimes it may be very helpful.
If you don’t understand part of the text or particular words, try to guess its meaning by looking at the words around.
Don’t spend too much time on individual part, leave it out and come back to it later.
Look at the examples (in 1,3,4 part), as they can help you with your own answers
If you don’t know the answer, don’t leave any answers blank, always guess- as you may be right!
Don’t forget to transfer your final answers to the answer sheet (the best idea is to do it after each part and not to leave it l the end of the exam)

GUIDELINES FOR EACH PART OF THE READING PAPER:

PART 1 (the multiple matching task)

First read the headings, then read the text section by section looking for any words or main ideas that go with the listed headings.
Ceck if each heading fits the context and if you think two answers are suitable for one section, note them both and when you finish with other answers, go back and read the same section more carefully.

PART 2 (the multiple choice)

First scan the text to get a general idea of what it is about.
Then read the questions very carefully. (This exercise, depending on the question, may require from you: a detail or a general understanding of the text, deducing the meanings from the context, or finding the relation between words or phrases.)
Read the text again and try to find the parts of the text that refer to the questions. Choose the answer remembering that only one is correct.
Sometimes it is useful to eliminate the other three answers by finding evidence that they are wrong.

PART 3 (the gapped text)

Read through the gapped text quickly to get a general idea of what it is saying and think about what information may be missing.
Read the missing paragraphs (or sentences) very carefully
Go back to the main text, look at the gaps and make your first guesses. Remember that the sentences before and after each gap can help you to decide what is missing.
Rad the text with the missing parts to see if it makes sense and remember that one paragraph (or sentence) is additional, so it will not fit any of the gaps.

PART 4 (the multiple matching)

Have a quick look at the text(s), its title and headings to make out what it is about.
Read the questions carefully, as you must know very precisely what kind of information you should look for in the text(s).
Scan the text(s) to find the answers for the questions. Remember that you don’t have to read everything nor understand every word.
If you are unsure, don’t spend too much time and go quickly to the next questions and come back to the empty space later, when you have finished with the other answers and know the text much better.
Don’t leave any questions unanswered.