C.P.E. (Cambridge Proficiency Exam)

• The Cambridge Proficiency exam is the hardest of the Cambridge exams.

• Who is it for?

Do this test if you really love English. If you pass this test your English is good enough for you to teach English to others. Your English will be good enough to study at any British university. Over 45,000 people in more than 80 countries take the CPE exam each year.

 

• What is the CPE test like?

 

The test has five sections:

 

1. Reading - 4 parts, 90 minutes

   • part 1, 3 texts with 18 gaps

   • part 2, 4 related texts with 2 questions each

   • part 3, text with missing paragraphs

   • part 4, text with multiple choice questions

 

1. Composition - 2 tasks, 2 hours

 

1. Use of English - 90 minutes

   • part 1: text with 15 gaps

   • part 2: word formation

   • part 3: gapped sentences

 

1. Listening - 3 or 4 recordings, 40 minutes

   • part 1: 4 passages with multiple choice questions New!

   • part 2: 1 long passage with gapped text New!

2. Interview - normally with another candidate, 15 minutes

 

• ScoreA, B, C (pass), D, E or U (fail)

 

• Where do I take the test?

At a test centre.

 

• When can I take the test?

 

Arrange with your closest test centre. The test can only be taken twice a year, in June and December.

 

• How much does it cost to take CPE?

Fees are set by test centres. Expect to pay around €150 euros.

 

 

READING:

 

 

• Part 1, 3 texts with 18 gaps

 

In part 1 of the CPE reading test you read three unrelated texts from a range of sources, each with six gaps.

 

You must choose one word or phrase from a set of four to fill each gap.

You should complete this activity in 20 minutes.

Bristleworms - a hobbyist's guide

 

Historically, Bristleworms have had a bad reputation among saltwater aquarium aficionados. These marine worms usually enter the hobbyist's aquarium by a ride on a piece of coral. Once established, they become part of the tank's ecosystem. Bristleworms greatly in size. The smallest ones are about an inch long, and the large ones can grow to over 20 inches, although, being segmented, their bodies are often and so not usually seen at their greatest extent. Literature has frequently that bristleworms are harmful, asserting that they eat clams, anemones and even coral fish. However, most enthusiasts now conclude that small bristleworms no threat, and are merely scavengers, clearing the tank from detritus and carcasses of animals that are already dead. However, larger worms, particularly those of the species known as fireworms, are eaters and can do irreparable damage. These worms are better removed, although this is a challenge in itself, as the worms are nocturnal, sensitive to light and will go into hiding at the slightest disturbance.

 

• Part 2, 4 related texts with 2 questions each

 

In part 2 of the CPE reading test you read four related texts from a range of sources, each with two multiple choice questions.

There are 8 questions in total. You should complete this activity in 20 minutes.

You are going to read four extracts which are all concerned in some way with the human mind.

For each question, choose the answer which you think fits best according to the text.

 

Where do emotions come from?

 

For many centuries, the question of how our minds work was left to theologians and philosophers. But at the beginning of the twentieth century, a new science, experimental psychology emerged, in which the speculative theories of the past were confirmed or disproved by the scientific method. At the forefront of this research was J B Watson. His area of interest was the origin of human emotions. Do we learn them, or do we have them when we are born? In particular, Watson wanted to study fear, and was prepared to go to whatever lengths to study his theory.

Watson’s subject was a 9 month old infant, Albert. During the experiment, Watson presented the child with things which are often considered frightening – a rat, fire, a clown mask. At first, Albert was unafraid of these things. But then Watson tormented the child with loud, unexpected noises as he was playing with them. Sure enough, Albert learnt to associate these things with the unpleasant experience. Even when the noises were stopped, Albert withdrew his body and puckered his face when presented once more with the rat and mask.

Such abusive and disturbing experiments would never be permitted nowadays. The film which Watson made of the experiment makes discomforting viewing, as the child is interminably and cold-heartedly tortured by the items which he has been taught to fear. Nonetheless, this was a landmark work with profound influence. Through it, Watson confirmed that humans learn fear by association, and as a result they can ‘un-learn’ it, a discovery that still impact s the work of behavioural therapists today.

 

1. What did Watson set out to prove?

 

 Humans can be conditioned to fear anything
 Children are unafraid of potentially dangerous things
 Humans are born with all their emotions
 Children are more afraid of loud noises than rats and masks

 

1. The writer believes that Watson’s work was ultimately...

 

 unwarranted
 significant
 irrational
 trivial

 

1. This article is clearly written for an audience of...

 

 students
 elderly people
 psychology researchers
 Americans

 

1. One difficulty in measuring the relationship between wisdom and age mentioned in the passage was...

 

 deciding how the responses should be scored.
 ensuring there was a diverse range of participants.
 deciding how wisdom can be measured.
 defining the term ‘wisdom’.

 

1. This article is written to...

 

 inform people about advertising techniques.
 teach the reader about the different senses.
 advise marketers on new strategies.
 warn people about how their minds can be manipulated.

 

1. Why are auditory and visual stimuli less effective these days?

 

 People are no longer influenced by these messages.
 They do not tap into a person’s subconscious.
 People come across too many of them.
 They are not used as much as the olfactory sense.

 

1. Carr believes that...

 

 People who use Google don’t use their brains.
 Internet use has affected his ability to concentrate.
 People cannot remember what life was like before the Internet.
 People are becoming too dependent on the internet.

 

1. The writer believes that...

 

 The internet can help people develop different skills.
 The internet does not impede memory.
 Most of Carr’s comments were untrue.
 The internet does not change brain structure.

 

 

• Part 3

 

In part 3 of the CPE reading test you read a text with 7 paragraphs missing.

Decide the order of the missing paragraphs.

You should complete this activity in 20 minutes.

 

You are going to read an extract from an article.

Seven paragraphs have been removed from the extract.

Choose from the paragraphs A-G the one which fits each gap.

There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

 

 

The Do-gooders
The people who changed the morals of English society.

 

In the last decades of the 18th century, the losers seriously outnumbered the winners. Those who were fortunate enough to occupy the upper levels of society, celebrated their good fortune by living a hedonistic life of gambling, parties and alcohol. It was their moral right, they felt, to exploit the weak and the poor. Few of them thought their lives should change, even fewer believed it could.

 

But the decisive turning point for moral reform was the French revolution. John Bowlder, a popular moralist of the time, blamed the destruction of French society on a moral crisis. Edmund Burke, a Whig statesman agreed. 'When your fountain is choked up and polluted,' he wrote, 'the stream will not run long or clear.'  If the English society did not reform, ruin would surely follow.

 

Englishmen were deeply afraid that the immorality of France would invade England. Taking advantage of this, Burke was able to gain considerable support by insisting that the French did not have the moral qualifications to be a civilised nation. He pronounced 'Better this island should be sunk to the bottom of the sea that than... it should not be a country of religion and morals.'

 

Sobering though these messages were, the aristocracy of the time was open to such reforms, not least due to fear. France's attempt to destroy their nobility did much to encourage the upper classes to examine and re-evaluate their own behaviour. Added to this was the arrival of French noble émigrés to British shores. As these people were dependant on the charity of the British aristocracy, it became paramount to amend morals and suppress all vices in order to uphold the state.

 

Whether the vices of the rich and titled stopped or were merely cloaked is open to question. But it is clear that by the turn of the century, a more circumspect society had emerged. Styles of dress became more moderate, and the former adornments of swords, buckles and powdered hair were no longer seen. There was a profusion of moral didactic literature available. Public hangings ceased and riots became much rarer.

 

One such person was Thomas Wackley who in 1823 founded a medical journal called 'the Lancet'. At this time, Medicine was still a profession reserved for the rich, and access to knowledge was impossible for the common man. The Lancet shone a bright light on the questionable practices undertaken in medicine and particularly in surgery, and finally led to improved standards of care.

 

How though did changes at the top effect the people at the bottom of the societal hierarchy? Not all reformers concerned themselves which changes at the authoritative and governmental levels. Others concentrated on improving the lives and morals of the poor. In the midst of the industrial revolution, the poorest in society were in dire straits. Many lived in slums and sanitation was poor. No-one wanted the responsibility of improvement.

 

Could local authorities impose such measures today? Probably not. Even so, the legacy of the moral reform of the late 1800s and 1900s lives on today. Because of it, the British have come to expect a system which is competent, fair to all and free from corruption. Nowadays everyone has a right to a home, access to education, and protection at work and in hospital. This is all down to the men and women who did not just observe society's ills from a distance, but who dared to take steps to change it.

 

Paragraphs

 

A  But a moral makeover was on the horizon, and one of the first people to promote it was William Wilberforce, better known for his efforts in abolishing the slave trade. Writing to a friend, Lord Muncaster, he stated that 'the universal corruption and profligacy of the times...taking its rise amongst the rich and luxurious has now ... spread its destructive poison through the whole body of the people.'

B  But one woman, Octavia Hill, was willing to step up to the mark. Hill, despite serious opposition by the men who still dominated English society, succeeded in opening a number of housing facilities for the poor. But, recognising the weaknesses of a charity-dependent culture, Hill enforced high moral standards, strict measures in hygiene and cleanliness upon her tenants, and, in order to promote a culture of industry, made them work for any financial handouts.

C  At first, moralists did not look for some tangible end to moral behaviour. They concerned themselves with the spiritual salvation of the rich and titled members of society, believing that the moral tone set by the higher ranks would influence the lower orders. For example, Samuel Parr, preaching at London's St Paul's Cathedral, said 'If the rich man...abandons himself to sloth and all the vices which sloth generates, he corrupts by his example. He permits...his immediate attendants to be, like him, idle and profligate.'

D  In time, the fervour for improved morals strayed beyond personal behaviour and towards a new governance. People called for a tightening of existing laws which had formerly been enforced only laxly. Gambling, duelling, swearing, prostitution, pornography and adultery laws were more strictly upheld to the extent that several fashionable ladies were fined fifty pounds each for gambling in a private residence.

E  So far, however, circumspection in the upper classes had done little to improve the lives of those in the lower classes. But that was to change. Against a backdrop of the moral high ground, faults in the system started to stand out. One by one, people started to question the morality of those in authority.

F  The attitudes of the upper classes became increasingly critical during the latter part of the eighteenth century. In 1768, the Lord of the Treasury was perfectly at ease to introduce his mistress to the Queen, but a generation later, such behaviour would have been unacceptable. Such attitudes are also seen in the diaries of Samuel Pepys, who, in 1793 rambles without criticism about his peer's many mistresses. A few years later, his tone had become infinitely more critical.

G  Similar developments occurred in the Civil Service. Civil servants were generally employed as a result of nepotism or acquaintance, and more often than not took advantage of their power to provide for themselves at the expense of the public. Charles Trevelyan, an official at the London Treasury, realised the weaknesses in the system and proposed that all civil servants were employed as a result of entrance examinations, thus creating a system which was politically independent and consisted of people who were genuinely able to do the job.

H  These prophecies roused a little agitation when first published in 1790. But it was the events in 1792-93 which shocked England into action. Over in France, insurrection had led to war and massacre. The King and Queen had been tried and executed. France was now regarded as completely immoral and uncivilized, a country where vice and in religion reigned.