C2 Proficiency Workbook Answer key

1 THIS IS US Adjectives and nouns with self

Reading and Use of English Part 6 Gapped text 1
1 D ​2 H ​3 F ​4 B ​5 E ​6 G ​7 A 1 e ​2 f ​3 b ​ 4 c ​5 g ​6 a ​7 h ​
8 d

Language focus 2
The present +: self-actualisation, self-assurance, self-made, self-
reliance, self-respecting, self-sacrificing, self-worth
1
-: self-deception, self-delusion, self-indulgent
1 I’m always finding 2 have to have seen
3 I’m understanding 4 we’re hoping Reading and Use of English Part 1 Multiple-choice cloze
1 C 2 B 3 A 4 D 5 A 6 A 7 C 8 B
2
1 steps, is/’s being watched, wonder, is/’s going, stands Listening Part 1 Three-option multiple choice
/ is/’s standing, focuses / focusing, takes, leaps, twists,
1 B 2 B 3 A 4 A 5 C 6 B
messes
2 wait, open, pull, take, wipe, put, remove, check, add, Writing Part 2 Article
check, are/’re topping, means, is/’s being used
1
3 go, am/’m shrinking, says, is/’s examining, am/’m Suggested answers
getting, yell, am/’m getting, says
1 Fairly informal, not academic. This article is for a
general audience.
3
2 Your own, plus those of other people of your age
1 a 2 b ​
3 b ​
4 a ​
5 b ​
6 a ​
7 a ​
8 b
3 The personal experiences should be used to support
general points.
4
1 forgive, warn 2 authorise 3 declare 4 quit 2
5 guarantee, second 6 acknowledge, refuse Suggested answers
7 challenge, bet 1 Paragraph 1 (I’m currently undergoing …);
2 (… who I might be now …); 3 (the whole paragraph);
Vocabulary Feelings and emotions 4 (I’m a complex individual …)
1 2 Paragraph 2 (Some of my former classmates …)
Suggested answers (NB Other adverbs may also 3 Paragraph 1 (… the lack of constraints can feel utterly
be possible.) overwhelming); 4 ( … these are mere labels)
1 visibly elated
3
2 absolutely/completely/utterly repulsed / grossed out by
1 go to school, study for exams, get into uni, study harder;
3 absolutely/completely/utterly flabbergasted/ as police officers, shop assistants, home owners,
dumbfounded parents. They suggest that the lists go on for ever. This
4 wholly engrossed in (NB The idiom ‘glued to’ is mainly is a powerful technique but it should be used with care:
used with screens, e.g. TVs and phones.) the examiner may assume you have simply forgotten to
5 absolutely/completely/utterly petrified include the conjunction.
6 absolutely/completely/utterly dumbfounded/ 2 But what happens when you reach the end of that
production line? Rhetorical questions like this are
flabbergasted
useful for involving the reader in the article, i.e.
7 hopelessly/absolutely besotted with encouraging him/her to think before reading on to find
8 literally glued to / wholly engrossed in the answer.
9 a bit despondent 3 Who exactly am I? Who do I want to be? What do
10 absolutely/completely/utterly repulsed / grossed out strangers see …? A young intellectual …? This technique
is useful for showing the writer has doubts, with no
clear-cut answers. However, it shouldn’t be overused.
2
4 mapped out (in minute detail); (reach the end of
1 down 2 heels 3 in 4 out 5 bits that) production line. Metaphors are a powerful
6 went (goes is possible) 7 rage way of making your arguments feel more vivid and
Suggested answer: The middle paragraph uses present memorable.
tenses (present simple, continuous and perfect) to make 5 … who I might be now if I had made different life
the action feel more dramatic. In the final paragraph, the choices in my teens. Advanced grammar structures like
speaker reverts to past tenses to focus on the reactions, this always make a good impression in language exams.
not the action.

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 C2 Proficiency Workbook Answer key
4 Language focus
1 Like most twenty-somethings, … Talking about the past
2 … just like everybody else … 1
3 I often wonder whether … or whether … 1 were always losing / always used to lose / would
4 This also leads me to contemplate … always lose
5 Such introspection inevitably makes me question … 2 was meant to depart / is/was meant to have departed
6 I’ve come to realise that … 3 was hoping to speak
7 … and that’s something I’m only now becoming 4 used to say / would say
comfortable with. 5 were (meant/supposed) to be given / to have been given
6 was / had been about to crash
5
1 undergo, crisis 2 oyster 3 clear-cut 2
4 shape, recognition 5 cusp, glittering 1 ​always/constantly ​2 ​I’d ​3 ​not ​4 ​were
6 haze, self-doubt 7 eyes 8 avid 9 end, day ​5 ​wouldn’t/didn’t ​6 ​had/I’d ​7 ​about/going/ready/
10 mere, attach 11 nudge, direction planning, etc ​8 ​hadn’t ​9 ​time ​10 ​I’d ​11 have
​12 ​had ​13 ​been ​14 ​looking
6
Sample answer Adverbs and adverbial phrases
1
How our languages shape our identities
Suggested answers (NB Possible but less natural
Like many language learners, when I embarked on my quest
positions are in square brackets)
to master English, I assumed it would simply be a matter
of acquiring a new skill to enable me to communicate in 1 Three or four: (Even) After such a near miss, (even) the
an international environment. Never in a million years did captain of the ship was (even) visibly shaken [even].
I expect that it would open formerly locked doors deep 2 Five or six: [Every now and then,] Although (every
within my personality, allowing me to become a completely now and then) flying (every now and then) makes me
different person – at least when I’m speaking English. nervous (every now and then), (every now and then) it’s
the only alternative (every now and then).
This unexpected bonus of bilingualism has manifested
itself in two phases. Firstly, during my early days as a 3 Six or seven: (Really,) I (really) don’t (really) understand
learner, I’m sure I’m far from alone in having experienced [really] why the tickets (really) aren’t (really) a lot
cheaper (, really).
the frustration of being unable to express myself clearly.
Like many others in my situation, I was petrified of making 4 Two or three: (Far away on the horizon,) I spotted [, far
a fool of myself, so my default setting was to say as little as away on the horizon,] a ship (far away on the horizon).
possible. I had inadvertently assumed the identity of “the 5 Three: (Honestly,) I (honestly) believe they were acting
shy one”, in sharp contrast to my flamboyant personality in (honestly).
my own language.
The second phase in the development of my multiple 2
linguistic identities came after I had broken through my 1 high, highly 2 short, shortly 3 deeply, deep
psychological barriers and begun to converse in English with 4 widely, wide 5 finely, fine
some degree of fluency. I have adopted a considerably more
informal personality in English than in my own language, Vocabulary Travel
which requires constant attention to issues of respect and
deference to more senior interlocutors. In English, I’ve found 1
myself using the same chatty style with close friends, elderly Suggested answers (less likely possibilities or weaker
acquaintances and even complete strangers. collocations in brackets)
My experiences, and those of countless people in a similar 1 unacceptable/unforeseen, unavoidable, unforeseen
situation, show that our identities, both in terms of how we 2 alternative, circuitous, scenic
see ourselves and how others see us, may be shaped by the 3 impromptu, flying/fleeting, fleeting
languages we’re speaking. However, I would not go as far 4 perilous (arduous), uneventful, arduous (perilous)
as to say that our fundamental personalities are altered by
our languages. Rather, when we flip between languages, we 5 long-haul (arduous), smooth (uneventful), bumpy
reveal sides of our character that already existed deep within
ourselves, but which only emerge under the right conditions. 2
1 crowds 2 shock 3 traveller 4 villages
5 landmark 6 service
2 WANDERLUST
Reading and Use of English Part 5 Multiple choice Word formation Adverbs
1 B 2 C 3 D 4 D 5 A 6 C 1 anticlockwise/counter-clockwise ​2 considerately ​
3 thereby ​4 onward(s) ​5 purposefully ​6 spaciously ​
7 regardless ​8 knowledgeably 9 ​wherever

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