Use of English
Part 6: Locating Information
C1 Advanced Exam
Overview
In Part 6 of the Reading and Use of English Paper on the C1 Advanced Exam, you need to read several short passages (usually 4 or 5) where people give different opinions. You then have to answer questions about those opinions: for example, Which authors share the same opinion? Which authors disagree with one another? etc.
Scoring
2 points are given for each correct answer in this section.
After doing a bunch of these tasks, this is my approach. It seems I make the least amount of errors when using it and I find the answers faster than other methods I've tried.
Overview
There are typically 2 types of questions:
Find 1 specific opinion in 1 paragraph and then find someone who agrees or disagrees in one of the other paragraphs. I call these Single Opinions (SO).
- Find 1 opinion that is different from all the other writers' opinion of that same topic. I call these Group Opinions (GO).
Usually, you're asked to find 3 SOs and 1 GO. However, sometimes you'll need to find only SOs for all questions, or multiple GOs and less SO, etc.
Process
This is the only text on the C1 Advanced exam that I recommend NOT reading in order (it's a waste of time to skim / read the entire text first. )
Before reading the text, read the TITLE to get an idea of the topic.
Then look at the 4 questions.
Skim the 4 questions to find the Group Opinion (GO) i.e. one that asks you to find the 1 opinion that differs from all the others. Underline what opinion to look for.
Then return to the top of the list of questions. Go to the first Single Opinion (SO) i.e. the one that asks you to compare 1 specific opinion to that of another writer. Underline what to look for. It will say which paragraph to look into. Go to that paragraph first.
Read the paragraph carefully and underline the part of the text which corresponds to the SO for that question. You may make notes as well (sometimes I write if they are pro, con, think it's good, bad, etc.). Also underline the part of the text that refers to the GO (the one we need to compare between all the writers). Make a note about what they think (if they are pro, con, etc).
Then move on. Never read more than you have to. Don't bother finishing the paragraph.
Look at the next SO question on the list. Repeat the above process (go to that paragraph, read carefully, find the corresponding opinion, make notes, find the CO, make some notes, etc.)
Do this until you've found all the SOs for each question. At this point, there's usually 1 paragraph (sometimes 2) left to read. Also, at this point, you may have already found the answer to the GO question. Underline the answer and write it on the exam paper to double-check at the end.
At this point, you've probably nearly read all of the paragraphs, so you can start finding the answers that correspond ot the SOs. You can probably skim the second time, since it's much easier to find them having already read the paragraphs.
If you cannot find an answer, it's probably in the paragraph(s) you haven't read yet, or in part of the text you hadn't read the first time.
Tips
Sometimes there's more than one answer in one paragraph.
The answers do not appear in the same order as the questions.
The answers may not be the main idea of a paragraph.
If you're struggling to find an answer, just skip it and come back to it. Just underline the part of the text you think it might be in. As you do the other questions, you'll get more familiar with all the texts so sometimes things become clearer as you move on.
Cambridge uses lots of synonyms and paraphrasing in their questions, so don't expect to see words repeated in different texts.
Also, sometimes when you're looking for SOs, you'll see opinions about the same topic by multiple authors. BE CAREFUL CHOOSING THE ANSWER. Make sure the answer you pick actually answers the original question (i.e. if the question is "Find an opinion that is different", don't choose an opinion that's the same!)
If you really don't know the answer, just guess. You lose no points for incorrect answers.
