FCE Skills-Read and Write

Read and Write has been specially written for students studying for the First Certificate Examination. More specifically, it aims to give practice in the skills and language needed in the Reading Comprehension Paper 1 and Composition Paper 2 of the examination. It is ideally suited for use with a full First Certificate course, but is equally useful for the general post-intermediate student who wants to improve his or her reading and writing.

The book contains 20 Units. The first 18 Units follow the same Unit format, while Units 19 and 20 aim to give final guidance and advice for taking the two Papers. Units 1-18 are each divided into three parts, A, B and C.

Part A aims to help prepare for Reading Comprehension Paper 1; part B ‘bridges the gap’ between parts A and C; and part C gives careful guidance for Composition Paper 2, Units 2, 4,,8, 10, 14 and 16 provide specific preparation for Section A of the Reading Comprehension Paper, but Part A of all Units gives practice in a variety of reading skills which the exam expects students to have mastered and which are tested through multiple-choice questions in Section B of the Paper.

Part B of each Unit is the ‘language link’ between parts A and C and gives practice in language (often) presented in reading comprehension passages (part A) and required for composition preparation and writing (part C).

Part C of each Unit is designed to help prepare for Composition Paper 2 and is generally connected with the first part of the Unit by theme or subject. Preparation for the different kinds of First Certificate composition (Letter, Narrative, Description,’Speech’ and Argument) is cycled three or four times (see Contents).