Preparing for PET (B1)
Are you taking your PET exam this year? If so, you can see everything you'll need to do during the exam on this website or by reading this.
From 2020, there will be four papers in your exam. The first one, Reading, has six parts, 32 questions and lasts for 45 minutes. In the first part, you'll have to read five short messages, notices or texts and then choose the correct answer (A, B or C). In part two, you need to read information about five different people and then match each person to the correct text. To do this, you'll need to read carefully to find out what the people want to do or are interested in. Part three is one long text with five questions. Each question has four options (A-D). You'll need to understand the information in the text and also the writer's opinion. Part 4 is a gapped text. Five sentences have been removed from the text you read and you have eight options to choose from. Remember to read the whole text first - think about the words before and after each gap, the tense and also remember to think carefully about pronouns like it, he, she and they. Look at this example:
We all know how important it is to protect the environment. 1. _____________________. For example, if you're a motorist jumping in the car somewhere is balanced against the knowledge of how harmful each journey can be.
Before the gap, we have a sentence about protecting the environment. After the gap, there's a specific example about how driving can be bad for the environment. The sentence in the middle (1.) will probably mention something about how it's difficult for us always to always do things that are good for the environment. Can you find it in the link? You can read lots of advice about doing part 4 on this website.
In part five you have to complete a text using words not sentences. You'll read a text with six missing words. Choose the correct one from the four options (A-D). The biggest mistake that students make here is that they try to fill in the words before reading all the text. Read the text first from the beginning to the end and think about the words that might go in the gaps. Then look at the four choices. Remember to read the whole text again at the end to make sure that your answers make sense If you want some extra help with this part, look here and here. Finally, part six is very similar to part five but with one important difference. You have to write six words to complete a text; this time, however, you don't have any words to choose from.
This website has a very good overview of the whole reading paper.
The second paper is Writing. You'll have 45 minutes for this paper and you'll need to write two things, both with around 100 words. In the first part, you'll have to write an email in which you'll need to do four things. Look here for an example. In the example, you're writing to a friend so you'll begin and end your email like this:
Hi Mark,
See you soon, / Thanks, / Bye, / Love,
Silvio
Look here for an example of an informal email. There's also a really good explanation of how to write emails for your PET exam here.
In the second part, you have a choice of writing either an article or a story. You can read advice on both here. If you're writing a story, you'll always be given the first sentence. A good idea is to start thinking about the END of your story before you begin to write:
Who are the people in your story?
Where are they at the end?
What are they doing?
Before you write, think carefully about the verbs you'll use. Is the story in the past, the present or the future? If it's the past, you'll use the past simple (I ate), the past continuous (He was going), the past perfect simple (He had finished) and maybe the past perfect continuous (They had been running). Also remember the phrases to organise your writing such as suddenly, just then, after that, in the end and unfortunately. You can read more advice about writing a story here.
The third paper is Listening. There are four parts and 25 questions. You'll listen to everything two times (30 minutes) and then have another six minutes to write your answers on the answer sheet. In part one, you'll listen to seven short conversations and choose the correct picture to match what you hear. If you want more practise, you can try doing part 1 here or here too.
The second part is similar to the first but you have six monologues/dialogues instead of seven and need to listen more carefully for the attitudes and opinions of the speakers. Part three is the most difficult part of the listening exam for many students because you need to listen for and write six pieces of missing information. Here's an example:
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR COMPETITION
First prize: £200 and a painting of _________________ by John Stevens.
Before you listen, look carefully at the gaps. You will always need to write one or two words. What kind of word goes in the space? A noun? An adjective? A verb? An adverb? An address? A number? A date?
Now read the part of the listening that gives you the answer:
Now this morning I'd like to tell you about this year's competition for the best photograph of animals, bird or plants. We have some great prizes for you - first prize for the most original photo is a cheque for £200 and a picture of elephants painted by the artist John Stevens. The second prize is....
Notice that you won't hear the exact words in the sentence. For example, you read 'a painting' but hear 'a picture'. However, you always need to write one (elephants) or two words that are exactly the same as you hear to fill in the gap. Are you ready for more practice? Then click here.
In the final part, you answer six questions about a single listening text. You can try another example of this exercise here.
The final paper is Speaking. There are four parts to this. You can read some advice on the speaking exam on this website. For a list of the kind of questions you need to answer in part 1 of the speaking, go here or here. There's a very helpful guide to the speaking test here as well, though it's a little out of date because from 2020 you talk about two photos in part 3 instead of part 2.
Part 1: Answer questions about your family, your hobbies, your future plans, your school, where you live, etc.
Part 2: You talk by yourself about two photographs. Remember you're not just describing what you can see (There's a..... / The first picture shows.... / A man is + ing) but also comparing and speculating (He might be.... / Perhaps he's....).
Part 3: You talk with your partner about a situation using some pictures to help you. You'll need to agree, disagree, make suggestions and give your opinion here.
Part 4: You continue talking about the topic from part 3 with your partner but this time the examiner will ask you questions about your likes and dislikes, habits and opinions.
You can watch a video of a student taking the new speaking test here. There's another video and lots of advice to help you do well in the speaking exam on this page.
There's a lot of advice on how to pass the exam here and you can read all the vocabulary you should already know on this page or this page. When would you say "Cheers!" to someone? Do you like eating foreign food? And are you ever careless? You can play some games to check your vocabulary knowledge here. If you want to check out some phrasal verbs that will help you in the exam, look here.
You can find some practice tests for PET here and lots more on this website.
From 2020, there will be four papers in your exam. The first one, Reading, has six parts, 32 questions and lasts for 45 minutes. In the first part, you'll have to read five short messages, notices or texts and then choose the correct answer (A, B or C). In part two, you need to read information about five different people and then match each person to the correct text. To do this, you'll need to read carefully to find out what the people want to do or are interested in. Part three is one long text with five questions. Each question has four options (A-D). You'll need to understand the information in the text and also the writer's opinion. Part 4 is a gapped text. Five sentences have been removed from the text you read and you have eight options to choose from. Remember to read the whole text first - think about the words before and after each gap, the tense and also remember to think carefully about pronouns like it, he, she and they. Look at this example:
We all know how important it is to protect the environment. 1. _____________________. For example, if you're a motorist jumping in the car somewhere is balanced against the knowledge of how harmful each journey can be.
Before the gap, we have a sentence about protecting the environment. After the gap, there's a specific example about how driving can be bad for the environment. The sentence in the middle (1.) will probably mention something about how it's difficult for us always to always do things that are good for the environment. Can you find it in the link? You can read lots of advice about doing part 4 on this website.
In part five you have to complete a text using words not sentences. You'll read a text with six missing words. Choose the correct one from the four options (A-D). The biggest mistake that students make here is that they try to fill in the words before reading all the text. Read the text first from the beginning to the end and think about the words that might go in the gaps. Then look at the four choices. Remember to read the whole text again at the end to make sure that your answers make sense If you want some extra help with this part, look here and here. Finally, part six is very similar to part five but with one important difference. You have to write six words to complete a text; this time, however, you don't have any words to choose from.
This website has a very good overview of the whole reading paper.
The second paper is Writing. You'll have 45 minutes for this paper and you'll need to write two things, both with around 100 words. In the first part, you'll have to write an email in which you'll need to do four things. Look here for an example. In the example, you're writing to a friend so you'll begin and end your email like this:
Hi Mark,
See you soon, / Thanks, / Bye, / Love,
Silvio
Look here for an example of an informal email. There's also a really good explanation of how to write emails for your PET exam here.
In the second part, you have a choice of writing either an article or a story. You can read advice on both here. If you're writing a story, you'll always be given the first sentence. A good idea is to start thinking about the END of your story before you begin to write:
Who are the people in your story?
Where are they at the end?
What are they doing?
Before you write, think carefully about the verbs you'll use. Is the story in the past, the present or the future? If it's the past, you'll use the past simple (I ate), the past continuous (He was going), the past perfect simple (He had finished) and maybe the past perfect continuous (They had been running). Also remember the phrases to organise your writing such as suddenly, just then, after that, in the end and unfortunately. You can read more advice about writing a story here.
The third paper is Listening. There are four parts and 25 questions. You'll listen to everything two times (30 minutes) and then have another six minutes to write your answers on the answer sheet. In part one, you'll listen to seven short conversations and choose the correct picture to match what you hear. If you want more practise, you can try doing part 1 here or here too.
The second part is similar to the first but you have six monologues/dialogues instead of seven and need to listen more carefully for the attitudes and opinions of the speakers. Part three is the most difficult part of the listening exam for many students because you need to listen for and write six pieces of missing information. Here's an example:
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR COMPETITION
First prize: £200 and a painting of _________________ by John Stevens.
Before you listen, look carefully at the gaps. You will always need to write one or two words. What kind of word goes in the space? A noun? An adjective? A verb? An adverb? An address? A number? A date?
Now read the part of the listening that gives you the answer:
Now this morning I'd like to tell you about this year's competition for the best photograph of animals, bird or plants. We have some great prizes for you - first prize for the most original photo is a cheque for £200 and a picture of elephants painted by the artist John Stevens. The second prize is....
Notice that you won't hear the exact words in the sentence. For example, you read 'a painting' but hear 'a picture'. However, you always need to write one (elephants) or two words that are exactly the same as you hear to fill in the gap. Are you ready for more practice? Then click here.
In the final part, you answer six questions about a single listening text. You can try another example of this exercise here.
The final paper is Speaking. There are four parts to this. You can read some advice on the speaking exam on this website. For a list of the kind of questions you need to answer in part 1 of the speaking, go here or here. There's a very helpful guide to the speaking test here as well, though it's a little out of date because from 2020 you talk about two photos in part 3 instead of part 2.
Part 1: Answer questions about your family, your hobbies, your future plans, your school, where you live, etc.
Part 2: You talk by yourself about two photographs. Remember you're not just describing what you can see (There's a..... / The first picture shows.... / A man is + ing) but also comparing and speculating (He might be.... / Perhaps he's....).
Part 3: You talk with your partner about a situation using some pictures to help you. You'll need to agree, disagree, make suggestions and give your opinion here.
Part 4: You continue talking about the topic from part 3 with your partner but this time the examiner will ask you questions about your likes and dislikes, habits and opinions.
You can watch a video of a student taking the new speaking test here. There's another video and lots of advice to help you do well in the speaking exam on this page.
There's a lot of advice on how to pass the exam here and you can read all the vocabulary you should already know on this page or this page. When would you say "Cheers!" to someone? Do you like eating foreign food? And are you ever careless? You can play some games to check your vocabulary knowledge here. If you want to check out some phrasal verbs that will help you in the exam, look here.
You can find some practice tests for PET here and lots more on this website.
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