FCE multiple choice cloze practice: Bees on the roof
This is a free FCE multiple choice cloze practice set: a short original text with eight gaps, each with four options. It is part of our FCE practice collection. Before you start, read our Part 1 multiple-choice cloze guide for the strategy.
By Eleanor BennettLast updated:
Before you start
Part 1 tests collocations, fixed phrases, phrasal verbs and small differences in meaning. Many candidates find it useful to spend about ten minutes on it, because the Reading and Use of English paper has one time limit for all seven parts, so it helps to know how long each part takes you.
- Read the whole text once before you choose anything, so you know what it is about.
- Look at the words on both sides of the gap. Often the word after the gap (a preposition, or "into account") decides the answer.
- If two options mean the same thing, neither is likely to be right.
Practice · Reading & Use of English Part 1
Multiple-choice cloze 1: Bees on the roof
Instructions: Read the text below. For each gap (1–8), choose the word (A, B, C or D) that best fits. Look at the words before and after the gap: often only one option makes a natural phrase. There is an example at the beginning (0).
### Bees on the roof
Only a few years ago, most people would not have (0) considered ____ keeping bees in the middle of a busy city. Today, however, hives can be found on the roofs of hotels, offices and even railway stations. Supporters claim that city bees actually (1) ____ better than their country cousins, because parks and private gardens offer a wide (2) ____ of flowers from early spring until late autumn, and fewer chemicals are sprayed on them.
Setting up a hive is not as simple as it sounds, though. Beginners are usually advised to (3) ____ a short course before they spend any money on equipment, and most local councils have rules about where hives can be placed. Neighbours also have to be (4) ____ into account: not everyone is happy to share a balcony with thousands of insects.
For those who do (5) ____ up the hobby, the rewards can be considerable. Many describe the hour they spend checking their hives as a welcome (6) ____ from the pressures of work. And then, of course, there is the honey. A single healthy hive can (7) ____ more than twenty kilos in a good summer, which is far more than one household could ever eat. It is not surprising, then, that some city beekeepers now (8) ____ a small income by selling jars of honey at local markets.
Example (0) considered: A considered · B regarded · C thought · D counted. Answer: A
After you finish
Read every explanation, including the ones for questions you got right. Write any new collocation in your notebook as a full phrase, for example take something into account, not just the single word.
For more practice with word partnerships, see our FCE collocations list, and try the open cloze set next.
Questions about this practice set
How is Part 1 marked?
Each of the eight gaps is worth one mark, and there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so never leave a gap empty.
What if I don't know any of the options?
Remove the options that don't fit the grammar (for example, a word that needs a preposition the text doesn't have), then make your best guess from what is left.