CAE Reading Part 5: multiple choice
CAE Reading Part 5 is the first long text in the C1 Reading and Use of English paper: one extended passage with six four-option questions worth two marks each. The questions test detail, opinion, attitude, tone, purpose and implication, and the last one may ask about the text as a whole.
- Questions
- 6 (31–36)
- Marks
- 2 each
- Options
- A–D
- Counts towards
- Reading
What CAE Reading Part 5 tests
Part 5 is a single long text, typically around 700–800 words, followed by six multiple-choice questions (31–36), each with four options. The text may come from a newspaper or magazine feature, a non-fiction book or a novel, and it usually has a clear point of view: a writer reflecting on their work, a critic arguing a case, a narrator looking back on an experience.
The questions follow the order of the text, although the last one may ask about the text as a whole, for example the writer's purpose or overall attitude. Cambridge lists a wide focus for this part: detail, opinion, attitude, tone, purpose, main idea and implication, plus features of text organisation such as exemplification (why the writer gives an example), comparison and reference, including lexical reference, where a phrase like this approach points back to an idea several lines earlier.
Each correct answer earns 2 marks, so Part 5 is worth 12 of the 50 Reading marks: as much as the whole of Part 7 and more than Part 8. The difficulty is rarely the vocabulary. It is that three options are each partly supported by the text, and only one is fully supported and answers the exact question asked.
Try a shortened CAE Reading Part 5 text
Read the extract from a feature article by a literary translator, then choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to the text. A full Part 5 text is about twice as long and has six questions.
Lost and found in translation
When people learn that I translate novels for a living, they usually ask the same question: isn't it lonely? I have long since stopped protesting, but it is in fact the least lonely job I know. For months at a time I share my desk with an author whose voice I am trying to inhabit, arguing with them, second-guessing them, occasionally losing my temper with them. That the author may have been dead for a century does nothing to lessen the intensity of the relationship.
What outsiders tend to imagine is a kind of code-breaking, in which each word in one language is swapped for its partner in another. The reality is closer to ventriloquism. A sentence that sounds elegant in Portuguese can land in English with a dull thud, and my job is to reproduce the effect rather than the words. Early in my career I was so anxious to be faithful that I produced translations which were accurate in every detail and lifeless as a whole. An editor returned one of them with a single comment in the margin: "Correct. Now make it good." I was furious for about a week. I have since come to regard it as the most useful advice I have ever been given.
None of this means that anything goes. The freedom a translator enjoys is that of a musician playing someone else's score: there is room for interpretation, but not for rewriting the melody.
31 In the first paragraph, the writer's main point is that translating a novel
A requires her to stay in close contact with the author.
B involves an intense engagement with another writer's voice.
C is more demanding when the author is no longer alive.
D can lead to disagreements that she struggles to resolve.
32 How has the writer's attitude to the editor's comment changed?
A She dismissed it at first but later accepted it reluctantly.
B She was angered by it at first but now values it highly.
C She found it confusing until she had more experience.
D She accepted it at once, although it hurt her pride.
33 The writer compares a translator to a musician in order to show that
A translation is as much an art as a technical skill.
B translators deserve more credit than they receive.
C a translator's freedom has clear limits.
D good translation depends on a sensitive ear for sound.
Show the answer and explanation
31 B. The paragraph is about how closely she lives with the author's voice: she tries to inhabit it and the relationship is intense. A misreads share my desk with an author, which is figurative; the author may be long dead. C is contradicted: death does nothing to lessen the intensity. D picks up losing my temper but she never says she cannot resolve anything.
32 B. I was furious for about a week (angered at first) and the most useful advice I have ever been given (values it highly). A is wrong because she accepted it fully, not reluctantly; C and D have no support in the text.
33 C. The comparison is followed by room for interpretation, but not for rewriting the melody: freedom with limits. A sounds reasonable and D echoes dull thud, but neither is the point the comparison makes. This is an exemplification question: ask what the comparison is there to prove.
How to answer CAE Reading Part 5, step by step
- 01
Skim the whole text first, in two or three minutes, for the topic, the writer's overall attitude and how the text develops. Do not read the options yet.
- 02
Read the first question stem only and find the part of the text it refers to. The questions follow the text order, so the answer to 32 will come after the answer to 31.
- 03
Read that section closely, including a sentence or two either side, and form your own answer before you look at A–D.
- 04
Test every option against the text. The right one is fully supported and answers the question asked. Eliminate options that are only half true, true but irrelevant to the question, or the opposite of what the text says.
- 05
For reference questions (this, such an approach, the latter), read backwards until you find what the phrase points to. For a final whole-text question, think about why the piece was written.
- 06
Allow about 15 minutes. With 12 marks at stake, this is time well spent, but do not reread the whole text for every question.
Mistakes that cost marks
Word matching. Distractors often reuse words from the text. Option D in question 33 echoes dull thud, but the comparison is about limits, not sound.
Choosing an option that is true but does not answer the question. The text may support an idea that has nothing to do with what the question asks.
Bringing in your own opinion. Option A in question 33 is a view many people hold. If the writer does not say it in that part of the text, it is not the answer.
Missing the writer's tone. Irony, understatement and phrases like I have long since stopped protesting carry the attitude that many C1 questions test.
Question types in CAE Reading Part 5
Recognising the question type tells you what kind of evidence to look for.
- Detail: What does the writer say about …? Find the exact lines; the answer is a paraphrase.
- Opinion and attitude: How does the writer feel about …? Look for evaluative words, concessions and contrasts.
- Purpose and exemplification: The writer mentions X in order to … Ask what point the example supports.
- Reference: What does "it" or "this development" refer to? Read the sentences before the phrase.
- Meaning from context: The phrase "…" suggests that … Work from the surrounding sentence, not a dictionary meaning.
- Implication: What does the writer imply about …? The answer is not stated directly but must follow logically.
- Whole text: What is the writer's main purpose? Consider the opening, the conclusion and the overall tone together.
Practise Part 5 in full CAE Reading and Use of English tests
Each CAE Reading and Use of English test on this site has its own Part 5, timed with the whole paper and marked as soon as you submit, with an explanation for every answer.
CAE Reading Part 5: questions
How many marks is CAE Reading Part 5 worth?
Twelve. There are six questions worth 2 marks each, out of a total of 50 marks for Reading.
How long should I spend on CAE Reading Part 5?
About 15 minutes: two or three minutes to skim the text, then around two minutes per question. Keep an eye on the clock, because Parts 6, 7 and 8 still need about 40 minutes between them.
Are the questions in C1 Reading Part 5 in the same order as the text?
Yes. They follow the order of the text, except that the last question may ask about the text as a whole, such as the writer's purpose or attitude.
What kind of texts appear in CAE Reading Part 5?
One long text from a source such as a magazine or newspaper feature, a non-fiction book or a novel. It usually expresses a clear point of view, which is why so many questions test opinion and attitude.
Sources
- C1 Advanced Handbook for Teachers (Cambridge University Press & Assessment), pages 7, 14
- C1 Advanced exam format (cambridgeenglish.org)
- C1 Advanced preparation materials: Cambridge's own sample tests
CambridgeMock is independent and not affiliated with Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Facts on this page are checked against the official documents above; the practice items and advice are our own.
Ready for C1 Advanced? Find out today
Take a free CAE mock test and get an estimated Cambridge English Scale score, with your marks part by part.