Aptis Grammar and Vocabulary Exam – Final Preparation

 

1 – Refresh your memory

What do you already know about the grammar and vocabulary exam? Choose one word from the

box to complete each gap in this summary text. Use each word only once.

as    change    consists    each   tests    even   for  pause   whole   

The grammar and writing exam ¹⁾__________ of 2 separate sections. The first is 25 multiple choice answers to test your grammar knowledge. It tests things like verb tenses, articles, prepositions, linkers, modal verbs and ²⁾__________ spoken grammar. The second is 5 vocabulary exercises, ³⁾__________  with 5 items for which you have to select one choice from a drop-down list. It ⁴⁾__________ mainly synonyms and collocations. There is one mark ⁵⁾__________ each answer, making a total of 50 marks for the ⁶⁾__________ test. You have 25 minutes to complete the test. During the test, you cannot ⁷⁾__________ the clock, but you can go back or forward ⁸⁾__________ you like, and you can review and ⁹⁾__________ your answers at any point until you submit your test or your time runs out.

2 – Navigating within the Aptis website

1) Circle the following:  a) time remaining   b) percentage of test completed   c) button to move to next question

2)  How would you…  a) go to question 7?  b) leave a question for later?  c) go straight to the vocab. section?    

3 – Do the Aptis Website Practice Exam

Go to the following web address and do the online Grammar and Vocabulary Practice Exam:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/aptis-practice-tests/AptisGrammarVocabPractice/

Once you’ve finished, you’ll get a % mark. Make a note of it here: _________%

4 – Find your Strengths and Weaknesses

In order to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in grammar and vocabulary knowledge, it’s useful to know the name of the grammar or vocabulary that is being tested. That way, you can search for the same grammar / vocabulary area online and improve on your weak areas. Here are all the questions from the test. Read through them and decide whether you know the grammar or not. Put a tick or cross in the last column. Also answer any of the questions in the ‘What is it testing?’ column.

Grammar

Question with correct answer in bold	What is it testing?	Do I know this? ü or û
1.   He is single. He never ________. married marries marrying	Tenses Past simple, present simple. It’s also testing use of the negative adverb ‘never’.
2.   I ________ use to swim much, but now I have my own pool, I swim every day. don’t didn’t did	Used to An area of grammar used to talk about past habits & states. This question is testing the form.
3.   In those days, my father ________ never eat dinner after 8 o’clock. used to will would	Would A modal verb that can also be used to talk about past habits. Why is ‘used to’ impossible?
4.   I had a shower, ________ I went to bed. during then until	Linkers ‘during’ is a preposition, ‘then’ is an adverb and ‘until’ is either a preposition or a conjunction.
5.   How much ________ the train to Santiago cost? is does do	Question Forms This question is testing whether you understand which auxiliary to use in questions.
6.   He ________ in Cairo. living lives live	Tenses Present simple vs. present continuous. Only ‘lives’ is formally correct. How would it be in present continuous?
7.   ________ you like to go out this evening? Will Would Can	Question Forms This question is testing whether you know how to form a question with ‘would like’
8.   He ________ finished cooking when we arrived. has have had	Tenses Past perfect simple vs. present perfect simple. Why is present perfect impossible?
9.   The film starts ________ half past four. at on in	Prepositions of Time We always use ‘at’ with clock times. Do you know when we use ‘on’ and ‘in’?
10. I wish it ________ the time of year when I could go on holiday. will be is were	Wish  Notice how we need to use past tense after ‘wish’ (‘were’ is the subjunctive form). The same is true about ‘if only’.
11. I don’t think it’s right ________ children to play with toy guns. for that to	Syntax A difficult area to revise. It tests your understanding of how to link clauses in sentences. Note the structure: be + right / wrong for (+ noun) to (+ verb).
12. I ________ to work when I saw Steve. was going went going	Tenses Past continuous vs. past simple. These are part of an area of grammar sometimes called ‘narrative tenses’.
13. That man’s so unreliable – you can’t trust him.  ________ I wouldn’t frankly work with him. I wouldn’t work frankly with him. Frankly, I wouldn’t work with him.	Adverb position in sentences There are specific rules as to where we can and can’t put adverbs in sentences. Do you know the rules?
14. Excuse me, I’m lost. ________ you help me? Could Shall Should	Polite Requests The example uses ‘could’. Do you know other ways of making polite requests?
15. William ________ in South America now. is living will live was living	Tenses Present continuous vs. ‘will’ future and past continuous.
16. We could cook dinner. ________, we could buy some take away food. Therefore On the other hand Although	Linkers ‘Therefore’ and ‘On the other hand’ are discourse markers, a type of adverb. Although is always a conjunction. Do you know the difference?
17. You ________ to do your homework by tomorrow. should must have	Expressing Obligation This is testing an area that includes both ‘true modal verbs’ and the ‘semi-modal’ ‘have to’. Why are the others wrong?
18. We ________ have caught the early train, as the football match was delayed. mustn’t didn’t needn’t	Needn’t have (+ past participle) Notice how some modals can be used in the past to express criticism or make deductions. Google ‘past modals of deduction’ for more information.
19. She reads every day ________ she isn’t serious. and because but	Conjunctions This is testing the meaning of the 3 conjunctions. How would you change the sentence to use ‘and’ or ‘because’?
20. A: I enjoy working on challenging projects at work.      B: So ________ I! am do can	So do I / Neither do I This is a specific area of spoken grammar that is often tested in the exam. How would you negate the answer?
21. Go to the end of the street and turn ________ right. (-) on to	Giving Directions This is testing collocation / dependent prepositions within the functional area of ‘giving directions’.
22. The children ________ playing football for two hours before it started raining. have been has been had been	Tenses Past perfect continuous, the right answer, is being contrasted with present perfect continuous. What is the other verb tense used in the sentence?
23. There were ________ than fifty people in the audience last night. fewer few lesser	Comparatives / Quantifiers Note that in  Malaysia, ‘lesser’ is sometimes used in this context, but this is considered wrong in standard UK English.
24. I just heard they are ________ get married in June. going to going go to	Be going to (+ verb) Often just called ‘going to’, it’s a very common future form in English.
25. If you were a better cook, you ________ need to eat out all the time. won’t wouldn’t hadn’t	Conditionals (2nd vs. 1st) The correct answer is a second conditional. Why can’t it be ‘first conditional’?

Vocabulary

For the vocabulary, write ‘strong’, ‘OK’ or ‘weak’ in the self evaluation column, depending on how you did in the test:

Answers	Choices	What is it testing?	Self-evaluation
Vocabulary 1 study = read receive = get start = begin talk = speak pick = choose	go                           begin plan                        listen read                        run choose                   speak end                         get	Verb Synonyms Testing knowledge of verb meaning. Notice that the first answer is a very ‘weak’ synonym, but it’s (probably) the best choice.
Vocabulary 2 cover – wrap improve / change – adjust state / make public – announce get somewhere – arrive put something together – assemble	attend                     assemble approach               arrive admit                      announce arrange                  adjust accept                    wrap	Verb Synonyms Testing knowledge of verb meaning. Notice how sometimes 2 verbs are given on the left to ensure only one match is possible from the choices.
Vocabulary 3 More and more people go abroad for their holidays these days. Drivers need to remain alert when in charge of a car. The city has many ancient and interesting buildings. She’s a highly articulate person who explains things clearly. He’s a very aggressive person – always getting into fights	awkward ancient ahead adequate articulate alert accurate abroad adult aggressive	Collocations Testing knowledge of adjectives and adverbs. Most of the correct answers are ‘right’ because they collocate with a verb before the adjective or a noun after it.
Vocabulary 4 timetable = schedule reward = prize queue = line phase = stage error = mistake	line                         joint        command             prize mess                      fright schedule               dock stage                      mistake	Noun Synonyms Testing knowledge of noun meaning.
Vocabulary 5 aerobics + classes agriculture + minister aisle + seat apron + strings atom + bomb	bomb                     audition scissors                 rod classes                  strings salesman              seep minister                 seat	Collocation Testing knowledge of adjective – noun collocations, and also of general noun knowledge. If you know what an apron is, only one word goes with it logically!

Note

The exact choice of vocabulary exercises varies between exams. Some can also test adjective synonyms.

5 – My Learning Plan

Between now and the exam, you can improve your mark in the grammar and vocabulary paper significantly by improving on your current weaknesses. Complete the table below, choosing 10 areas of grammar or vocabulary you want to study most. Put the most important ones at the top of the table. Add the study completion date in the last column to help you to plan your time effectively (e.g. by 20^th Dec.):

Number	What I want to study	Study Completion Date
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

                                   

6 – How to find what you need online

Now that you know what you want to study and when, here are some tips for finding the right materials online. For each area of grammar, use Google to find what you need. Example searches are given below:

1) Grammar Learning

Search for the name of the grammar (notice the use of inverted commas), and the words ‘grammar rules’.

This will bring up websites that explain the basic rules:

2) Grammar Practice

Search for the name of the grammar (notice the use of ‘vs’) and the word ‘exercises’ or ‘activities’.

This will bring up websites that have practice exercises, such as gap fills, matching exercises, etc. Check the answers are available before you begin:

3) Vocabulary Building

Search for the name of the vocabulary area you want to strengthen and the word ‘list’.

This will bring up useful lists that you can download or copy and print off. You can use these lists for learning, testing yourself or testing colleagues. You can stick them on the walls in your house (e.g. in the kitchen / bathroom / above your bed!) to help you learn, too!

4) Vocabulary Practice

Search for the name of the vocabulary area you want to strengthen and the word ‘exercises’.

This will bring up websites that have practice exercises, such as gap fills, matching exercises, etc. Check the answers are available before you begin:

Don’t forget about your Aptis practice materials booklet. This also contains lots of practice material for the grammar and vocabulary exam!

Trainer Supplements

Answer Key

Grammar

1. married

2. didn’t

3. would

4. then

5. does

6. lives

7. Would

8. had

9. at

10. were

11. for

12. was going

13. Frankly, I wouldn’t work with him.

14. Could

15. is living

16. On the other hand

17. have

18. needn’t

19. but

20. do

21. (-)

22. The children had been

23.  fewer

24. going to

25. wouldn’t

Vocabulary 1

study = read (poor question)

receive = get

start = begin

talk = speak

pick = choose

Vocabulary 2

cover – wrap

improve or change – adjust

state / make public – announce

get somewhere – arrive

put something together – assemble

Vocabulary 3

More and more people go abroad for their holidays these days.

Drivers need to remain alert when in charge of a car.

The city has many ancient and interesting buildings.

She’s a highly articulate person who explains things clearly.

He’s a very aggressive person – always getting into fights

Vocabulary 4

timetable = schedule

reward = prize

queue = line

phase = stage

error = mistake

Vocabulary 5

aerobics + classes

agriculture + minister

aisle + seat

apron + strings

atom + bomb

Aptis Practice Test – Online Test

This is the online practice test (a past paper), copied from the Aptis website in Oct 2013. It can be used with teachers who are having difficulty accessing the online exam:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/aptis-practice-tests/AptisGrammarVocabPractice/

Grammar

1.     He is single. He never ________.

married

marries

marrying

2.   I ________ use to swim much, but now I have my own pool, I swim every day.

don’t

didn’t

did

3.   In those days, my father ________ never eat dinner after 8 o’clock.

used to

will

would

4.   I had a shower, ________ I went to bed.

during

then

until

5.   How much ________ the train to Santiago cost?

is

does

do

6.   He ________ in Cairo.

living

lives

live

7.   ________ you like to go out this evening?

Will

Would

Can

8.   He ________ finished cooking when we arrived.

has

have

had

9.   The film starts ________ half past four.

at

on

in

10. I wish it ________ the time of year when I could go on holiday.

will be

is

were

11. I don’t think it’s right ________ children to play with toy guns.

for

that

to

12. I ________ to work when I saw Steve.

was going

went

going

13. That man’s so unreliable – you can’t trust him. _________

I wouldn’t frankly work with him.

I wouldn’t work frankly with him.

Frankly, I wouldn’t work with him.

14. Excuse me, I’m lost. ________ you help me?

Could

Shall

Should

15. William ________ in South America now.

is living

will live

was living

16. We could cook dinner. ________, we could buy some take away food.

Therefore

On the other hand

Although

17. You ________ to do your homework by tomorrow.

should

must

have

18. We ________ have caught the early train, as the football match was delayed.

mustn’t

didn’t

needn’t

19. She reads every day ________ she isn’t serious.

and

because

but

20. A: I enjoy working on challenging projects at work.      B: So ________ I!

am

do

can

21. Go to the end of the street and turn ________ right.

(-)

on

to

22. The children ________ playing football for two hours before it started raining.

have been

has been

had been

23. There were ________ than fifty people in the audience last night.

fewer

few

lesser

24. I just heard they are ________ get married in June.

going to

going

go to

25. If you were a better cook, you ________ need to eat out all the time.

won’t

wouldn’t

hadn’t

go begin plan listen read run choose speak end get

Vocabulary 1

Select a word from the list that has the most similar meaning to the word on the left. Example: big = large

study = ________

receive = ________

start = ________

talk = ________

pick = ________

attend assemble approach arrive admit announce arrange adjust accept wrap

Vocabulary 2

Complete each definition using a word from the drop down list.

To cover with paper or material is to ________

To improve or change is to ________

To state or make public is to ________

To get somewhere is to ________

To put something together is to ________

awkward ancient ahead adequate articulate alert accurate abroad adult aggressive

Vocabulary 3

Complete each sentence using a word from the drop down list.

More and more people go ________  for their holidays these days.

Drivers need to remain ________ when in charge of a car.

The city has many ________ and interesting buildings.

She’s a highly ________ person who explains things clearly.

He’s a very ________ person – always getting into fights.

line joint command prize mess fright schedule dock stage mistake

Vocabulary 4

Select a word from the list that has the most similar meaning to the word on the left. Example: big = large

timetable = ________

reward = ________

queue = ________

phase = ________

error = ________

	bomb audition scissors rod classes strings salesman seep minister seat

 

Vocabulary 5

Select a word from the list that is most often used with the word on the left. Example: big + house

aerobics + ________

agriculture +  ________

aisle + ________

apron + ________

atom + ________