CPE Reading & Use of English Practice

CPE Reading & Use of English is the most demanding reading paper Cambridge offers — pitched at C2 level (mastery). Texts include literary fiction, philosophical essays and dense academic prose. 90 minutes for 53 questions across 7 parts. Word Formation and Key Word Transformation push transformations into rare and irregular territory.

CPE Reading & Use of English: part by part

1. Part 1 — Multiple Choice Cloze (8 questions): C2 vocabulary precision, register, near-synonyms.
2. Part 2 — Open Cloze (8 questions): subjunctive, inversion, ellipsis, complex conditionals.
3. Part 3 — Word Formation (8 questions): triple-chain transformations (gene → genetic → genetically), irregular forms.
4. Part 4 — Key Word Transformation (6 questions, 2 marks each): rewrite using a fixed key word, 3–8 words.
5. Part 5 — Multiple Choice Reading (6 questions, 2 marks each): literary or philosophical extract. Deep inference required.
6. Part 6 — Gapped Text (7 questions, 2 marks each): 7 missing paragraphs to slot into a long article.
7. Part 7 — Multiple Matching (10 questions): 10 prompts against 5 sections.

Sample CPE Reading item

A typical reading task you'd see in a CPE mock exam.

Common CPE mistakes

• Treating Part 1 like FCE — at C2 every distractor is a real word that almost fits. Only one matches the exact register and collocation pattern of the surrounding text.
• Going under the 3-word minimum in Part 4 — short answers feel safe but score zero. Re-read sentence2Start and End and pad your transformation to 3–8 words including the key word.
• Missing the literary register in Part 5 — answers often hinge on irony, understatement, or implied attitude rather than literal text.

Practise CPE Reading now

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