B2 First Multiple Choice Cloze Practice
B2 First (FCE) · Reading & Use of English Part 1 · 38 free exercises
A text with eight gaps, each offering four similar words — only one fits. Multiple choice cloze tests precise vocabulary: collocations (words that naturally go together), fixed phrases, phrasal verbs and shades of meaning between near-synonyms.
Multiple Choice Cloze: Four words fit the gap; only one fits the phrase.
- 8 — gaps
- 4 options — A B C D
- 1 mark — per gap
- ~8 min — of your paper
Collocation and fixed expressions — which words go together in English. The four options are usually close in meaning, so the answer is not the word you understand but the word English pairs with its neighbours.
What real learners get wrong: From real B2 First attempts, learners get about 27% of gaps wrong. The hard gaps are fixed phrases and collocations where the four options are close in meaning.
The method
- Read the whole sentence first, ignoring the options — try to feel what belongs in the gap.
- Read the words on both sides: the answer is usually chosen by a neighbour (a verb before, a preposition after).
- Ask whether this is a fixed phrase — a phrasal verb, idiom or set expression. If so, only one option completes it.
- Test each option inside the phrase, not just by meaning. All four may mean something similar.
- Eliminate what you can prove wrong, then choose — narrowing to two doubles your odds.
The traps
- The plausible synonym: A distractor that means almost the same but does not collocate. You "clock up" laps, you do not "sum" them.
- Choosing by meaning, not pairing: Combat, battle, struggle and contest all mean fighting — only one pairs with "doing".
- Idioms with a fixed word: "Out of harm’s way" allows no substitution — not danger’s, risk’s or threat’s.
- Ignoring the preposition: The little word after the gap often decides — "___ of working hours" wants "assurance".
- Reading only the gap sentence: If two options both fit the sentence, the wider context breaks the tie.
All Multiple Choice Cloze exercises
Cambridge B2 First 4, Cambridge University Press
- Aspects of Character - Test 2
- Chimpanzee Beds - Test 4
- Feedback Forms - Test 3
- Seeing Australia's Most Famous Animals - Test 1
Cambridge English First 2, Cambridge University Press
- A New Partnership - Test 7
- Dr Joseph Bell - Test 8
- Lighting a Town - Test 5
- The Importance of Science - Test 6
Cambridge English First 3, Cambridge University Press
- Alfred Wainwright - Test 1
- An Ancient Cave Interests Scientists - Test 4
- Imaginary Friends in Early Childhood - Test 3
- Tea Bags - Test 2
First Expert Coursebook, Pearson Education
- Groundhog Day - Module 3
- Hairstyles - Module 7
- Hospitality - Module 1
- Parkour - Module 4
- Retail therapy - Module 11
- What are they trying to tell us? - Module 12
First Expert Student's Resource Book, Pearson Education
- A famous traveller - Module 10
- An opportunity too good to miss - Module 12
- Art online - Module 6
- Blind date - Module 8
- Light pollution - Module 3
- The Rough Guide story - Module 9
- The discovery of DNA - Module 5
- Tomatoes: the perfect fruit - Module 7
Ready for B2 First 4th Edition Workbook, Macmillan Education Limited
- British Weather - Unit 11 - What on Earth's Going On?
- Effectively Managing Your Staff
- I can't go to school – it's raining! - Unit 1
- The Concept of 'Buy Me Once' Shopping
Ready for B2 First 4th Edition, Macmillan Education Limited
- Bird Brains - Ready for Use of English
- Ex-athlete taken in ... again - Unit 10
- Friendship Apps - Unit 6
- Seville - Unit 8
- Solving a Mystery - Unit 9
- Summer Jobs for Students - Unit 5
- The Dangers of a Sedentary Lifestyle - Unit 12 Review
- Young Entrepreneurs - Unit 1