Here are 50 questions and answers by Cambridge that will help you know your English level. This test will let you know whether you are on A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 OR C2 level. Learn or take a quiz here
1. Most university students…………………on campus in their first
year.
a. Lives
b. Live
c. Are living
Why? Live is the correct answer, because the sentence is in
present simple and our subject “Students” is plural.
2. From this graph, we can see that the economy………….at the
moment.
a. Improves
b. Improve
c. Is improving
WHY? Whenever you are describing a picture, you should use
present continuous. And there is another phrase in our sentence “At the moment”
this shows present continuous.
3. They………...personal computers when my father was a
student.
a. Hadn’t
b. Didn’t have
c. Weren’t having
WHY? This sentence is in the past.
4. I……….want to be a practicing doctor but now I’m more
interested in research.
a. Was used to
b. Used to
c. Would
WHY? When you are talking about something that was true in
the past but which is not true now or present you use “Used to”.
5. The teacher………….us how to do the experiment when the fire
bell rang
a. Showed
c. Shown
Was showing
WHY? There are two actions in the sentence, teacher was
doing one action and fire bell is another action. And these two actions are
connected by “WHEN” this is called an interruptive past i.e. one action stops
the other action.
6. I finished my essay yesterday but…………it in to the tutor yet.
a. I’ve given
b. I haven’t given
c. I didn’t give
WHY? The word “Yet” shows that the sentences is present
perfect so, we need “have” and past participle. In addition, “yet” shows that
the sentence is negative.
7. ……………the experiment three times now with different
results each time.
a. We’ve done
b. We did
c. We’ve been doing
WHY? The phrase “three times now” shows that the actions
were done in the past but they have impacts now (present).
8. When I arrived the lecture…………..so, I didn’t find it to
follow.
a. Started
b. Had started
c. Had been starting
WHY? This sentence has two actions “I arrived” but there was
an action that has happened before “The lecture has started”
9. She………well at school but that changed when she became
friends with a different group of girls.
a. Did
b. Had done
c. Had been doing
WHY? This sentence is in the past because something happened
in the past it over or finished. And when you look at sentences, you will find
that all verbs are in past, for instance: changed, became.
10. ……………….the doctor at 2:00 this afternoon so I can’t go
to the lecture.
a. I’m seeing
b. I see
c. I will see
WHY? Most of you have attempted “I will see” which is
wrong!!! This sentence is in the future but it talks about arrangement or
schedule, that’s why we will use present continuous “I’m seeing”
11. My
sister………….economics and politics when she goes to study university.
a. Is going to study
b. Studies
c. Will study
WHY? For those one who chooses “will study” get it correct. But
since it is future plan or schedule you should use “is going to”
12, While we’re working on the project our boss…………….on a
beach in Greece!
a. Will sit
b. Will have sat
c. Will be sitting
WHY? The sentence has two actions, but one action is in the
present continuous and the next action will be in progress.
13. If the trend continues, the average income…………by % 107
by 2027.
a. Will increase
b. Will have increased
c. Will be increasing
WHY? This is a future perfect, and we use it when we want to
say that something will happen by a deadline or by a fixed time int the future.
Therefore, in this sentence 2027 is a deadline or fixed period.
14. You can base your geography assignment on……………country. It
doesn’t matter which.
a. A
b. Some
c. Any
WHY? An indicator here is “it doesn’t matter”
15. There aren’t……………..places left on the course, so you’d
better apply soon.
a. Much
b. Many
c. Lots of
WHY? You cannot say
much because much is used for uncountable nouns. Places is countable. But what
about lots of? The thing is both of them are synonymous but usually use many
for negative sentences and lots of for positive sentences. Now this sentence is
negative because it says there aren't.
16. I don’t know whether to accept the job offer. It’s………………
a. A difficult decision
b. The difficult decision
c. Difficult decision
WHY? The articles are three: “A” which is used on singular, “An”
which is used on every and each word begins with “vowel” and “The” which is
used on plural. In addition, the articles are only used on countable nouns. Therefore,
“Decision” is a countable and singular noun and an indefinite article “A” is
used on singular. That’s why “A difficult decision” is a correct answer.
17. For those of you new to the company, this leaflet is
full of…………..
a. A valuable information
b. The valuable information
c. Valuable information
WHY? This question is similar to previous question. “Information”
is non-countable noun, therefore it doesn’t need an article.
18. The manager interviewed……………..candidates in turn.
a. Each of the
b. Each
c. Every
WHY? The phrase “in turn” shows that the manager interviewed
candidates “one by one”. Why not “each of the?”, always “each of the” needs to
be followed by noun phrase, for instance: each of the candidates sitting in the
room.
19. I know it’s not much of a present but I made it………………..
a. Me
b. On myself
c. By myself
WHY? By myself is
correct answer because it is collocation that means “alone”.
20. You should visit bath. It’s…………city.
a. A historical and interesting
b. A historical interesting
c. An interesting historical
WHY? In English, opinion adjectives are always first. In
this case, “interesting” is an opinion adjective.
21. The government has released some………...data showing how schools
are not providing an adequate education to our children.
a. Shocking
b. Shock
c. Shocked
WHY? Since we have “data” we need an adjective that will
describe data. Therefore, data can’t be shocked rather it is shocking data.
22. You need to go to
southern Italy. The scenery is………. stunning and the people are very friendly.
a. Very
b. Fairly
c. Absolutely
WHY? “Stunning” is strong adjective therefore, we should use
“absolutely”. Look at this example: we say “very tired” not “absolutely tired” because
“tired” is not strong adjective. On other hand, we can’t say “very exhausted”
because “exhausted” is a strong adjective we will say “absolutely tired”
instead.
23. This factory produces some of………….cameras in the world.
a. Best
b. The best
c. The most best
WHY? When you are using superlative, you use “the best”.
24. ………………...people live in the countryside that 100 years ago
a. Less
b. Few
c. Fewer
WHY? Less and Fewer are both comparative adjectives however,
less is used on noncountable nouns while fewer is used on countable nouns. In
this sentence, we are talking about people and you can count people therefore,
the correct answer is “fewer”.
25. The bookshop………..the of the road is excellent.
a. At
b. On
c. In
WHY? Here’s fixed phrase “at the end of”, you should
memorize it.
26. The were millions of people around the world……………the
football match live on television.
b. Watching
c. Were watching
WHY? “watching” is the best option because the match was
live “continuous”.
27. Scientists finally………..find a cure for the disease after years of the research.
a. Managed to
b. Can
c. Could
WHY? If we are talking about amount of efforts put into
something, we use “Manage to” instead of “could”. In this sentence, scientists
used a lot of effort and they finally managed to find a cure.
28. She got a terrible mark in the exam so she……………very hard
at all.
b. Can’t have worked
c. Didn’t work
WHY? This is called a deduction. It means you see something now
and then you start logically thinking about the cause. She failed the exam now.
So, she can't have worked very hard. Now, when you are 100% certain of this
deduction, we use must. However, we don't use must in the negative form. So,
mustn't is not the correct option. Instead of must in the negative form, we use
can't. That's why can't have worked is the correct answer.
29. What………..in order to get a permit to work in your country.
a. Do I need to do
b. Must I do
c. Ought I do
WHY? Prohibition “mustn’t”.
30. When you write your essays you……….copy ideas from books without referencing them properly.
a. Mustn’t
b. Don’t have to
c. Have to
WHY? This is a negative obligation. Therefore, you should
use “mustn’t”.
31. Doctors have…………….us to cut down on salt in our diets if
we want to reduce the risk of the heart disease.
a. Insisted
b. Suggested
c. Advised
WHY? You advise
someone to do something, you don’t insist or suggest him or her.
32. …………….this newspaper report, more women smoke than men
nowadays.
b. According to
c. Supposedly
WHY? This is what we call source attribution, therefore “according
to” is the best option.
33. My parents encouraged………..this course.
a. Me to do
b. Me doing
c. Me do
WHY? You encourage somebody to do something, that is the structure.
34. What will you do if…………….?
a. You don’t get a good IELTS score
b. You didn’t get a good IELTS score
c. You won’t get a good IELTS score
WHY? This is the first condition sentence, because the main clause
is made up of future tense, therefore the if clause should be present simple.
35. A recent
government report has warned that…………..we act immediately to reduce pollution,
there will be serious consequences for the planet.
b. In case
c. Unless
WHY? Look at sentence! This sentence needs “IF NOT” and unless
resembles it.
36. If I didn’t have to work to night,………………
a. I’d be able to relax now
b. I’m able to relax now
c. I’ll be able to relax now
WHY? This is second condition sentence. Because the if clause
is made up of past tense, therefore if main clause should be made up of
condition “would”
37. I think that man……...tapping his fingers on the table. It’s really annoying me.
a. Stopped
b. Had stopped
c. Would stop
WHY? When we use wish to complain about other people's
annoying behavior, it must be followed by would.
38. I’m aiming…………a band 7 in IELTS.
a. On
b. For
c. To
WHY? “Aim” as a verb requires the preposition “for”
39. Do you have any knowledge…………..how our education system works?
a. Of
b. On
c. For
WHY? The correct preposition that follows knowledge is “of”
40. The minister………..is responsible for education has just resigned.
a. Which
b. Who
c. What
WHY? Who is used on persons, and minister is a person
therefore, the correct answer is “who”
41. The university of st Andrews……………is the oldest university in Scotland.
a. Which was founded in 1413
b. ,which was founded in 1413,
c. ,that was founded in 1413,
WHY? First of all, this is a non-defining relative
clause. That means you can just remove it from the sentence and the
sentence would still make sense.
42. Many children these days do not have a healthy diet………………is possible that this is because less healthy foods are cheaper than healthy ones.
a. What
b. That
c. It
WHY? This is a new sentence. It must begin with a subject. What's
the subject? Nothing. That's the fact. There is no subject. We need something
to act as a subject in English. That's called a dummy subject. And a good dummy
subject to use is it. It is a dummy subject in English.
43. The charity is trying to find ways to save and……………the world’s endangered animal species.
a. The charity is trying to find ways to protect
b. To find ways to ways to protect
c. Protect
WHY? You do not need to repeat everything which was used before and. You simply need to remove them and only use the verb. And the verb is “protect”. That's the only thing you need to do. This is called parallel structures.
44. In the past we threw a lot of our kitchen waste away, but today many items such as plastic bottles and newspapers……………
a. Are recycled
b. Recycle
c. Need recycling
WHY? We need to use a passive voice to fill the gap.
45. I can’t pick you up from the station on Wednesday because……..on that day.
a. I’m fixing my car
b. I’m having my car fixed
c. I need my car fixed
WHY? Causative “have something done”.
46. These drugs are the best medicine available as a treatment at the moment,………..they are expensive, unfortunately.
a. Although
b. Because
c. So
WHY? The sentence shows contrast.
47. Leaning a foreign language is important because it helps you to understand other cultures better……………….it can be a useful skill in many areas of work.
a. However
b. Despite this,
c. In addition,
WHY? The first part talks about how good learning foreign language
is, and in the second part we also talk about it. Therefore, it is adding positive
to positive.
48. ……………..I can’t go to the conference as I’ve got to go to Sydney on business.
a. Frankly
b. Unfortunately
c. Personally
WHY? The sentence has an excuse.
49. …………….I think it’s useful to write an outline of your essay before you start to write the first draft.
a. Interestingly
b. Definitely
c. Personally
WHY? This sentence contains personal idea.
50. The……….of dark red spots is one of the first signs of the disease.
a. Appearance
b. Appearing
c. Appear
WHY? After definite article “The” we use a noun.
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