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What’s in the Reading and Writing paper?
The Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Reading and Writing paper has seven parts for Reading and two parts for Writing. There are different types of texts and questions.
Summary
| Time allowed: |
1 hour 30 minutes |
| Number of parts: |
Reading: 7 parts; Writing: 2 parts |
| Number of questions: |
Reading: 45 questions; Writing: 2 tasks |
| Marks: |
Reading: 25% of total; Writing: 25% of total |
Parts 1–9
Part 1 (Multiple choice)
| What's in Part 1? |
Five very short texts (they may be signs, messages, postcards, notes, emails, labels, etc.). You have to read them and choose which of the three sentences (A, B or C) is correct. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Reading notices and other short texts to understand the main message. |
| How many questions are there? |
5 |
| How many marks do I get? |
One mark for each correct answer. |
Practise Part 1
Now try Part 1 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Part 2 (Matching)
| What's in Part 2? |
Five short descriptions, often of people’s requirements, and one text to read. You have to match each person to part of the text. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Reading to find specific information. |
| How many questions are there? |
5 |
| How many marks do I get? |
One mark for each correct answer. |
Practise Part 2
Now try Part 2 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Part 3 (Matching)
| What's in Part 3? |
Eight graphs or charts (or one or more graphics with eight parts) and five questions. You need to match each question to a graph or part of a graph. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Reading and understanding visual information |
| How many questions are there? |
5 |
| How many marks do I get? |
One mark for each correct answer. |
Practise Part 3
Now try Part 3 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Part 4 (Right/Wrong/Doesn’t say)
| What's in Part 4? |
A text and seven questions. For each question, you have to decide if a statement is A 'Right' or B 'Wrong', according to the text, or if the information is not given in the text, you should choose C 'Doesn't say'. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Reading and finding detailed factual information. |
| How many questions are there? |
7 |
| How many marks do I get? |
One mark for each correct answer. |
Practise Part 4
Now try Part 4 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Part 5 (Multiple choice)
| What's in Part 5? |
A text, often from a leaflet or from a newspaper or magazine article, with six multiple-choice questions. Each question has three options. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Reading for gist (the main ideas) and specific information. |
| How many questions are there? |
6 |
| How many marks do I get? |
One mark for each correct answer. |
Practise Part 5
Now try Part 5 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Part 6 (Multiple-choice cloze)
| What's in Part 6? |
A text (newspaper or magazine article, advert, leaflet, etc.) with twelve numbered spaces. Each space represents a missing word and you have to choose the right answer (A, B, or C). |
| What do I have to practise? |
Reading – understanding when grammar is correct and understanding the structure of a text. |
| How many questions are there? |
12 |
| How many marks do I get? |
One mark for each correct answer. |
Practise Part 6
Now try Part 6 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Part 7 (Note completion)
| What's in Part 7? |
Two short texts (memos, emails, notices, adverts, etc.) and a form to complete. You have to read the texts and fill in the correct information (a word, a number or a phrase) in the empty spaces on the form. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Reading and transferring information |
| How many questions are there? |
5 |
| How many marks do I get? |
One mark for each correct answer. |
Practise Part 7
Now try Part 7 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Part 8 (Writing Part 1)
| What's in Part 8? (Writing Part 1) |
An internal company communication. The instructions tell you who to write to and what you should write (e.g. a note, a message, a memo or an email). |
| What do I have to practise? |
Writing short messages to colleagues. |
| How many questions are there? |
1 |
| How much do I have to write? |
30–40 words |
| How many marks do I get? |
This question has a total of ten marks. |
Practise Part 8
Now try Part 8 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Part 9 (Writing Part 2)
| What's in Part 9? (Writing Part 2) |
A piece of business correspondence (letter or email) or a notice, an advert, etc., to read. The instructions tell you what to write and who to write to. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Writing business letters to people outside your company. |
| How many questions are there? |
1 |
| How much do I have to write? |
60–80 words |
| How many marks do I get? |
This question has a total of 20 marks. |
Practise Part 9
Now try Part 9 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
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Available as a computer-based test
Download a free pack of sample papers (zip file)
What’s in the Listening paper?
The Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Listening paper has four parts. For each part, you have to listen to a recorded text or texts on business-related topics and answer some questions. You hear each recording twice.
Summary
| Time allowed: |
About 40 minutes, including 10 minutes to transfer your answers onto the answer sheet. |
| Number of parts: |
4 |
| Number of questions: |
30 |
| Marks: |
25% of total |
Parts 1–4
Part 1 (Multiple choice)
| What's in Part 1? |
Eight short conversations/monologues (one person speaking). For each recording, there is a multiple-choice question, which may be in the form of words or pictures. You have to listen to the recordings and choose the right answer (A, B or C). |
| What do I have to practise? |
Listening for specific information. |
| How many questions are there? |
8 |
| How many marks do I get? |
One mark for each correct answer. |
Practise Part 1
Now try Part 1 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Listening paper.
Part 2 (Note completion)
| What's in Part 2? |
A short conversation or monologue which contains factual information and a form, table, chart or set of notes with gaps. You have to listen to the recording and write the correct information (dates, prices, percentages, figures, etc.) in the gaps. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Listening for specific information – numbers and spelling. |
| How many questions are there? |
7 |
| How many marks do I get? |
One mark for each correct answer. |
Practise Part 2
Now try Part 2 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Listening paper.
Part 3 (Note completion)
| What's in Part 3? |
A longer monologue and a page of notes or a form with gaps. You have to listen to the recording and fill in the missing information (one or two words) in the gaps. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Listening for specific information. |
| How many questions are there? |
7 |
| How many marks do I get? |
One mark for each correct answer. |
Practise Part 3
Now try Part 3 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Listening paper.
Part 4 (Multiple choice)
| What's in Part 4? |
A longer recording (about 3 minutes) which may be an interview or a discussion between two or more speakers on a business-related topic. You have to listen to the recording and choose the right answer (A, B or C) for each of the eight multiple-choice questions. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Listening for gist (the main ideas) and specific information. |
| How many questions are there? |
8 |
| How many marks do I get? |
One mark for each correct answer. |
Practise Part 4
Now try Part 4 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Listening paper.
Face-to-face Speaking test
Download a free pack of sample papers (zip file)
What’s in the Speaking paper?
The Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Speaking test has three parts and you take it together with another candidate. There are two examiners. One of the examiners talks to you and the other examiner listens and takes notes.
Summary
| Time allowed: |
12 minutes per pair of candidates |
| Number of parts: |
3 |
| Marks: |
25% of total |
| You have to talk: |
with the examiner
with the other candidate
on your own |
Parts 1–3
Part 1 (Interview)
| What's in Part 1? |
A conversation with the examiner. The examiner asks questions and you give information about yourself and your opinions on business-related topics. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Talking about yourself, agreeing and disagreeing, expressing preferences. |
| How long do we have to speak? |
About 2 minutes |
Practise Part 1
Now try Part 1 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Speaking paper.
Part 2 (Long turn)
| What's in Part 2? |
A 'mini-presentation' on a business theme. The examiner gives you a choice of two topics and you have 1 minute to prepare and then give a short talk lasting about 1 minute. Listen carefully when your partner speaks as the examiner will ask you which point you think is most important. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Giving a short talk on a business-related topic. Giving information and expressing opinions. |
| How long do we have to speak? |
About 5 minutes, including a 1-minute ‘long turn’ for each candidate. |
Practise Part 2
Now try Part 2 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Speaking paper.
Part 3 (Collaborative task)
| What's in Part 3? |
A discussion with the other candidate on a business-related topic. The examiner describes a situation to you and will give you some black and white pictures or written text to help you. You have to talk to the other candidate for around 2 minutes about the situation and decide what to do. |
| What do I have to practise? |
Giving opinions, agreeing and disagreeing, etc. |
| How long do we have to speak? |
About 5 minutes |
Practise Part 3
Now try Part 3 from the sample Cambridge English: Business Preliminary Speaking paper.