CAE Use of English Part 3  teacher s notes
Description
First, students complete a table with the verb, noun, adjective and adverb form of a given
word. They are asked to think about whether the word has a form with a prefix or suffix.
Students then complete a word formation task which uses some of the words from the table.
Time required: 30 minutes
Additional sample task
materials
required:
to develop students awareness of all the forms of a word
Aims:
to encourage students to consider a word with a negative prefix or
suffix as a key for CAE Paper 3, Part 3
to give guided practice at a CAE word formation task
Procedure
1. If necessary, remind students about what they have to do in Part 3  see Additional
information below.
2. Give out the worksheet.
3. To make sure that students can talk about different types of words, e.g. verb, adverb,
ask them to do question 1. If you know your students will not know these terms, do the
question as a whole class activity and write examples on the board. Otherwise, students
could do the question in pairs.
4. Ask students to complete the table. The XXX in a box means that the word is not
commonly used in this form. If you have dictionaries, you could encourage use of
dictionaries here. The key here is not intended to be totally exhaustive.
5. Check the answers.
6. Give out the sample task. Go through the instructions and example. Elicit from students
why it is important to read the whole text first before deciding which form to use. (They
have to understand the sentence structure and the context of the whole text.) Point out
that there is usually at least one prefix in each Part 3 task, and a negative form may be
required.
7. Check the answers and ask students which answers were easier and which were more
difficult.
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Additional information
Part 3 consists of a text containing 10 gaps (plus one gap as an example). At the end of
some of the lines, and separated from the text, there is a stem word in capital letters.
Candidates need to form an appropriate word from given stem words to fill each gap. The
focus of this task is primarily lexical, though an understanding of structure is also required. It
tests the candidates knowledge of how prefixes, suffixes, internal changes and compounds
are used in forming words. Candidates may be required to demonstrate understanding of the
text beyond sentence level.
Answers on the answer sheet must be written in pencil and in capital letters.
Suggested follow-up activity
Ask students which words required them to change the spelling of the original word:
increase, suffice, maintain, stable, intend, ready, diverse, remove. That is 8 out of 10, so
they have to pay attention to spelling.
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CAE Use of English Part 3  answer keys
Key to Student s worksheet
Exercise 1
1 D
2 F
3 E
4 B
5 A
6 C
Exercise 2
Adjective Adverb
Verb Noun Can it take a negative Can it take a negative
prefix or suffix? prefix or suffix?
compare comparison comparative comparatively
comparable comparably
incomparable incomparably
increase increase increasing increasingly
suffice sufficiency sufficient sufficiently
insufficient insufficiently
undoubted undoubtedly
doubt doubt
doubtless doubtlessly
doubtful doubtfully
maintain maintenance maintained XXX
stabilise stability stable stably
unstable unstably
intend intention intended
unintentionally
unintended
unintentional
ready readiness ready readily
diversify diversity diverse diversely
remove removal removed XXX
removable
attract attraction attractive attractively
unattractive
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Key to Sample Task
1. increasingly
2. sufficient
3. undoubtedly/doubtlessly
4. maintenance
5. stability
6. intentions
7. readily
8. diversity
9. removal
10. unattractive
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CAE Use of English Part 3  Student s Worksheet
1 Match the definitions of some grammatical terms to the terms.
Grammatical terms Definitions
1 Noun A a letter/group of letters added to the beginning of a word to
make a new word
2 Verb
B a word that describes or gives more information about a verb
C a letter/group of letters added to the end of a word to make a
3 Adjective
new word
4 Adverb
D a word that refers to person, place or thing
E a word that describes a noun or pronoun
5 Prefix
F a word that describes an action
6 Suffix
2 Complete the table. In the third and fourth column add the word with a negative prefix
or suffix if it exists e.g. doubtless. If there is XXX in the box, it means that this word is
not commonly used in that form.
Adjective Adverb
Verb Noun Can it take a negative Can it take a negative
prefix or suffix? prefix or suffix?
compare
increase
suffice
doubt
maintain XXX
stable
intend
ready
diverse
remove XXX
attract
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CAE Use of English Part 3  Sample Task
For questions 1 10, read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some
of the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line. There is an example at the
beginning (0).
Write your answers IN CAPITAL LETTERS on the separate answer sheet.
Example: 0 C O M P A R I S O N
An ancient tree
In Totteridge, in north London, there is a yew tree estimated to be between
1,000 and 2,000 years old. This tree, however, is a mere youngster in
(0) & & .. with others of the species. The record in the UK is held by a yew in COMPARE
Scotland that is thought to be between 4,000 and 5,000 years old. However,
such trees are becoming (1) & & & rare and the Totteridge specimen was INCREASE
considered of (2) & & & importance to be named in 1999 as one of the 41 SUFFICE
 great trees in London. Like many yews, the Totteridge tree (3) & & & DOUBT
predates the buildings around it and its exact age is unknown.
The Totteridge tree needs little (4) & & & . Some of its outer branches hang MAINTAIN
down so low that they have taken root. But this is part of the tree s natural
architecture and contributes to its (5) & & ... in high winds. With the best of STABLE
(6) & & & , ancient yew sites are often tidied up with no benefit to the tree INTEND
Dead branches are not (7) & & & shed by the tree and their wood harbours a READY
multitude of insects, an inseparable part of the old tree s natural (8) & & & DIVERSE
Something of the tree s history is lost with the (9) & & & of dead wood. After REMOVE
all, the decaying, twisted and (10) & & & parts give the tree character. ATTRACT
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