Set Texts for the Cambridge English Exams 2013

For the Proficiency in English Exam ( CPE )




- The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd (2002)

- The Birthday Party, by Harold Pinter (1958)











For the Certificate in Advanced English ( CAE )

- Lord of The Flies, by William Golding  

- The Lighthouse, by PD James





* Note:  Reading these books is not compulsory for taking the Cambridge exams, but it will help you to prep. Besides, there will be an optional piece of writing connected to one of them in Part 2 of the Writing Exam.

A letter to the editor (Proficiency exam)

Need help with the writing section in the Proficiency in English exam? Take a look at this "letter to the editor."


Dear Sir

I am writing in response to the article in last Wednesday´s edition of your paper regarding the proposal of increasing nursery provisions across the country to encourage women back into the worklife after having a baby. I would like to comment on the points that were raised.

First of all I would like to say that I totally agree with the statement that providing greater nursery provisions will allow women to return to work as soon as possible. Improvements in childcare programmes will definitely contribute to this, and I think they are a wonderful idea. As I see it women should be able to have children without having to worry about losing their jobs, simply because it is their natural right to do so.  

Secondly, I would like to mention that the fear some companies have that this pro-children policy will encourage women to have too many children and therefore cause them serious economic problems, is irrational. Women of these days are career-oriented and are likely to choose to have just one or two children. Not having to worry about leaving the company will just make them more committed to their work and more motivated to contribute to the enterprise´s success. 

I also would like to add some ideas to your comments: "a greater nursery provision provides an ideal opportunity to introduce a national programme of pre-school learning". I think it is true that we do not have an adequate nursery programme, specially for six-month babies and toddlers. We have seen education as a right for anyone older than three years old without considering the younger population. I fully expect to see a change in such an important aspect of education in our country.

To sum up, women do not need to risk their careers when deciding to have a baby. It is the government´s job to ensure that children are secure in their first years as well as to create an appropriate national education programme and to encourage companies to provide nursery facilities.

I look forward to hearing other readers´ views on the subject.

Yours faithfully
Gustavo Albarracín

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My top five favourite idioms

1. It´s not my cup of tea.

What does it mean when somebody says something is not their cup of tea? It simply means that they are not fond of it.

 And we use it like this:

"I don´t really like reggaeton music." = "Reggaeton music is not my cup of tea."





2. To have a whale of a time

If you have a whale of a time it means that you have a jolly good time with your friends.

- "So, how was Mexico?"
- "It was great! I had a whale of a time with my friends."

Click here for other phrases with time.



3. Mum's the word


This is a very popular idiom. According to wikipedia "mum" is a Middle English word meaning "silent."

" I´m getting married in September, but mum´s the word, nobody knows it yet."






4. Once in a blue moon

This is one I use frequently, and it means that you don´t do something very often (or that something doesn´t happen very often).

- "How often do you do exercise outdoors?"
- "Once in a blue moon, to be honest."




5. Sour grapes


Do you know this one?
The picture helps. It´s a lot like the children´ story. We use it when there is something that we desire but can not have it, and we simply deny wanting it.

"I said I didn´t really love her anyway, but it was sour grapes."



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Useful phrases for CPE/ CAE/ FCE and IELTS essays

Essays are academic documents written for a university/college class on a serious topic, such as "global warming" or "the impact of new technologies on our society". Therefore they are formal in style, contain advanced/specialised vocabulary and use a wide variety of grammatical structures.


Writing an essay for an international exam like CPE, CAE, FCE or IELTS, is usually perceived by students as a real challenge. But it shouldn´t be such a daunting task, having had the right amount of practice and counting with a couple of useful expressions up your sleeve. This post intends to provide you with some help.

Guide to write an essay: Click here!
What´s the difference between an essay and an article?
Click here!


Useful phrases for writing essays:

The following is a list of phrases that can be used when writing an essay. Notice that they have a formal style and that they do not contain contractions.

Establishing the purpose of the essay (introduction)
This essay critically examines...
The paper will review the research conducted on...
The aim of this paper is to examine...
The essay seeks to...

Giving opinions/stating facts
It is vitally important to...
I would like to point out that...
It is doubtful that...
Without a doubt...
It would be infinitely preferable to...

Giving somebody else´s opinion
It has recently been suggested that...
According to Dr...

Giving examples
In the case of...
This is an example of...
For instance...

Presenting arguments in order
Firstly...
Secondly...
In addition to what has already been mentioned...

Summarising your opinion
In the end,...
All in all,...
In conclusion,...


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How to write an article for an international exam (CPE, CAE, FCE, IELTS,...)

When taking CPE, CAE, FCE, IELTS or any other international examination, you are often asked to write an article. This can be either formal or informal and on a wide variety of topics. There are a number of things you should take into consideration before you write, while you write and after you´ve finished writing...


1. Before you write

Take a minute to read the task(instructions) carefully and decide what to write and in which style.

Ask yourself the following questions

What do I have to write about? (Content/ check task)

Who is the article for? A newspaper, a formal magazine/ a blog...? (To decide on style/check task)

How many paragraphs am I going to write? (Organisation)

What kind of language should I use? (Language/grammar I am expected to use/ check task)

2. While you write

Have into consideration that articles have two main purposes, to inform and to entertain/interest the reader. Ideally after going through your text, your readers should have the feeling that they have learnt something or at least that they have had a good time.

It is always a good idea to start the article with an inviting title and a riveting introduction. Something that makes your public continue reading. It could be a question (that they will only be able to answer after reading the text), or something intended to caputure the reader´s imagination. You are free to be creative when choosing a title but make sure it reflects what the text is about.

As you write remember to stick to your plan, check that you are truly answering the task questions and that you have clear well-organised coherent paragraphs (You shouldn´t start writing about A and end up writing about Z.)

At CAE and CPE level it is also of vital importance to include some advanced examples of the use of grammar as well as lexis (idioms, collocations, sayings.) So instead of saying something like "I had a lot of fun although I don´t normally enjoy jazz concerts" say something like " I had a whale of a time although jazz concerts are not my cup of tea" (idioms: have a whale of a time; not my cup of tea.)

3 After you write

Take your time to proofread. Check for spelling mistakes and see if you have to make any corrections. Make sure that you have used a wide variety of words and if you find one that has been used more than once, replace it for a synonym.

Avoid repetition: Don´t say "I like history programmes, I also like music programmes."
Say: "I´m into history programmes and I also like music Tv shows."

Ask yourself the following questions:
- Have I completed the task? (Content)
- Is my article well-organised? (Organisation)
- Have I used a wide range of vocabulary? (Language)
- Have I used different grammar tenses? (Language)
- Is all the article writen in the same style? (Style)
- Is the article interesting enough? (Reader)

Take a look at some examples of articles:

Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3


Commonly asked questions:

1. How long should a piece of writing be?
It depends on the international examination. At CPE for example, it is between 250-350. It is important to read the instructions carefully, the expected number of words must be there.

2 What is the difference between an article and an essay?
As I see it, an essay is more academic, usually written for a university/college class. An article is usually for a magazine or a blog, they can be formal or informal, the topics can be serious or trivial, they are intented to inform and also to entertain.



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CPE Article: A fun way to learn English

Need help on how to write an article? Take a look at this  CPE sample article by our guest blogger from Spain, Elena Traviesa.













Task: " You are a student at an international college. Your tutor has asked you to write an article for the college website on ways students can improve language skills outside the classroom. In your article, you should suggest ways in which students can make contact with English-language speakers. You should also assess whether the most effective way of improving language skills is to make friends with speakers of the language"

               A fun way to learn English (give your article a title)

(State your main idea in the first paragraph)
In today's intercultural society, no one can deny the importance of learning a second language, especially English. In our college we believe that major action should be taken to guarantee that all of us, the students, are given the chance to practice this ability to communicate with for people from all over the world. This task will require working with a holistic approach and will imply the participation of a very committed group of people willing to help each other. So are you ready? (use a question to motivate readers)

(organise your text into paragraphs)

Our first idea is to use the Internet. For young people surfing the net is as easy as pie and we all have access to it. We suggest getting in touch with other students from around the world. Some highly recommendable sites include a wide range of social networks as Facebook and Twitter. It is also a good idea to encourage students to chat via Skype with people from English speaking countries.

A second idea is to organise reading or conversation clubs, which can have monthly gatherings in different spots in the city. Needless to say this will be a very effective way to learn while making friends and having a blast. There are several attractive places in town such as parks, art galleries, cafés, and social artistic venues where students and professionals can give a boost to their social and language skills.

A final idea is for the college to create a web page. With the support of this effective tool, our students can have blogs with a variety of engaging tasks and games. We can have fun getting familiar with collocations and structures that can be shared as part of an exercise on our creative website. It will definitely be highly engaging for students regardless of their backgrounds and specializations, they will find an enjoyable site where they can put language into practice, as they will be well-connected and comfortable with the cuttingedge technology.

By Elena Traviesa
Sociologist/English teacher/blogger from Bilbao, Spain.

#words: 325


Need more help? Try these links:

How to write an article 

Article sample 1  

Article sample 2