Business English Certificate (BEC) Higher Level C1 / Reading

Business English Certificate (BEC) Higher Level C1 / Reading

C1 Business Higher

1 hour

 

Reading

tasks

The paper consists of a range of business-related texts and accompanying tasks. A text may consist of several short sections. There are six parts. Parts 1 to 3 test candidates’ reading comprehension skills. Parts 4 to 6 test candidates’ understanding of the meaning of written English at word, phrase, sentence and paragraph level.

Candidates indicate answers by shading a box or writing a word on a machine-readable answer sheet.

Part

Number of questions

Number of marks

Task types

Focus

Format

1

8

8

Matching

Reading for gist and global meaning.

Matching task involving either a single text or five short, related texts (approx. 450 words in total).

2

6

6

Matching

Text structure and detail.

An authentic business-related text with sentence-length gaps. Whole text approximately 450–500 words in total.

3

6

6

Multiple choice

Understanding general points and specific details.

A 4-option multiple-choice task involving a longer text based on authentic source material (approx. 500–600 words).

4

10

10

Multiple-choice cloze

Vocabulary and text structure.

A single business-related text with mainly lexical gaps (approx. 250 words).

5

10

10

Open cloze

Text structure and discourse features.

Single business-related text with structure and discourse gaps (approx. 250 words).

6

12

12

Proofreading

Understanding sentence structure; error identification.

Short text (approximately 150–200 words). Identification of additional unnecessary words in text.

Total

52

52

     

 

C1 Higher Reading

 

There are 6 parts of the Reading paper


Part 1
Matching

In this part, there is an emphasis on reading for gist and global meaning.

This is a matching task involving either a single text or five related shorter texts. Examples are a set of related product descriptions, a set of advertisements (for instance, for different types of services), notices, book reviews, short newspaper items on related topics or a single magazine article divided into five sections.
Texts may be edited, but the source is authentic. They are identified as texts A–E. There are eight questions, each of which is one sentence, numbered 1–8. Each sentence is a statement which can be matched with only one of the texts. The candidate’s task is to read the sentence and then scan the texts for the one to which the sentence applies. Candidates are tested on whether they can understand the language of the question and relate it to the meaning of the text, which is expressed in different language.

test sample

 

Part 2
Matching
In this part, there is an emphasis on structure and reading for detail.

This is a gapped text with six sentence-length gaps. The text comes from an authentic business-related source, although it may be edited. Sources include business articles from newspapers or magazines, books on topics such as management, and company literature such as annual reports. Candidates have to read the text and then identify the correct sentence to fill each gap from a set of eight sentences marked A–H. Sentence H is the example, and one other sentence is a distractor which does not fit any of the gaps. Understanding, not only of the meaning of the text but of some of the features of its structure, is tested.

test sample

 
PART 3
4-Option Multiple Choice

In this part, there is an emphasis on understanding general points and specific details.

This task consists of a text accompanied by 4-option multiple- choice questions. The stem of a multiple-choice item may take the form of a question or an incomplete sentence. There are six questions, which are placed after the text. Sources of original texts may be the general and business press, company literature and books on topics such as management. Texts may be edited, but the sources are authentic.

test sample

 

PART 4
4-Option Multiple Choice Cloze

This part tests the candidates’ knowledge of lexis and text structure.

This task is a modified cloze: in other words, a gapped text in which the gaps are carefully chosen. There are 10 multiple-choice questions, most of which test vocabulary. The candidate’s task is to choose the correct option from the four available to fill each gap.

test sample

 

PART 5
Open Cloze

This part tests the candidates’ understanding of how texts are structured and their ability to follow the detailed meaning and argument of a text.

This task is an open cloze: a gapped text in which the candidate has to supply the word to fill each gap. There are 10 questions. Gaps are formed by rational deletion, being chosen rather than simply those which occur if (for example) every seventh word is deleted. The focus is on structure and coherence/cohesion in the text. Items tested may be prepositions, auxiliary verbs, pronouns, conjunctions, etc.

test sample

 

PART 6
Proofreading

This part tests candidates’ understanding of sentence structure andtheir ability to identify errors.

In this task, candidates identify words that have been introduced into a text in error. This exercise can be related to the authentic task of checking a text for errors, and suitable text types therefore include letters, publicity materials, etc. The text contains 12 numbered lines, which are the test questions. Further lines at the end may complete the text, but these are not test questions.

test sample