Collocations are an important focus of B2 First Reading and Use of English Part 1, and learning them takes regular practice. The choice between four familiar words can be surprisingly difficult when only one fits the expression. These five free worksheets explore different collocation patterns through the lives of several famous people who all have interesting stories: Harry Houdini, Marilyn Monroe, Frida Kahlo, Serena Williams and Bob Marley, with matching activities and exam-style texts to practise vocabulary in context.
Contents
What does B2 First Reading and Use of English Part 1 test?
Reading and Use of English Part 1 is a multiple-choice cloze with eight gaps and four options for each gap. Each correct answer earns one mark. Questions test vocabulary, including collocations, phrasal verbs, fixed phrases and differences between words with similar meanings. B2 First and B2 First for Schools use the same format.
You’ll often recognise all four options. The challenge is deciding which one fits the sentence. Sometimes a preposition gives you a clue; sometimes you need to understand an idea developed across several sentences. Reading around the gaps before attempting to answer gives you the context that you need to be successful.
Don’t forget: Reading and Use of English Part 1 counts towards your Reading score. The name of the paper can cause some confusion here. Parts 1, 5, 6 and 7 contribute to Reading, while Parts 2, 3 and 4 contribute to Use of English.
Collocations for B2 First
A collocation is a combination of words that commonly go together. Learning these combinations involves paying attention to familiar words as well as new vocabulary. You probably learnt heavy and rain quite early on, for example. Recognising heavy rain as a collocation helps you choose a suitable adjective when you need to describe the weather. This is a good example of a strong collocation. Heavy is a common choice when describing intense rainfall. Sometimes, learning these combinations comes down to knowing what sounds right to your trained ear, but active study and preparation help that training. Collocations don’t mean that there is no other option to combine certain words. One noun may have many possible adjectives, but there will be certain ones that are combined more often than others when describing a certain situation.
At B2, you should know a reasonably wide range of these combinations. Here are some examples organised by the types of words they contain:
| Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
| Verb + noun | fulfil an ambition, break the silence |
| Adjective + noun | bright future, valuable experience |
| Adverb + adjective | fully booked, highly qualified |
| Verb + adverb | sleep soundly, brake sharply |
Grouping vocabulary this way can make it easier to revise. If you’re learning adjectives to describe people, you could add adverbs that commonly accompany them, such as highly qualified or deeply disappointed. You can then practise using the combinations in sentences about people you know.
Practising collocations in context
When you work through a Reading and Use of English Part 1 text, look at the words on both sides of each gap. Not every question will be a collocation, but it’s highly likely that one or two will be. When you identify that the gap is testing a collocation, try your chosen answer in the complete sentence and check that it fits the meaning. A familiar combination can be tempting, but still not correct, so make sure you’ve read far enough to understand what the writer is saying in the wider context.
For practice with the next task in the paper, try our B2 First Use of English Part 2 exercises.
The materials
Each worksheet includes discussion questions, a collocations matching activity and an original exam-style text about a famous person. An alphabetical glossary provides definitions of the collocations for revision. Choose a person who interests your class or work through the sheets over several lessons.
You can use the glossaries in these worksheets for revision. Cover the collocations and try to recall them from their definitions, or hide one word in each expression. A few days later, use several of them to retell part of the person’s story. This gives you another opportunity to use the vocabulary and see which combinations you remember.
EXAM PART: B2 First Reading and Use of English Part 1
EXAM SKILLS: Vocabulary and collocations in context
LEVEL: B2
TOPIC: Famous people
TIME: 20–30 minutes per worksheet
PREPARATION: One worksheet per student
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