Please, help me with the CAE!
I would like to ask a question about the Reading part, concretely the "Cross-text multiple matching" part.

There are 4 questions and you are suppose to answer them with the 4 writers. My question is: Why sometimes in the answers they forget one writer and put twice the same writer? Is it possible? Do you have any trick to deal with the exercise?

Thank you very much.

David.

Question

Please, help me with the CAE!
I would like to ask a question about the Reading part, concretely the "Cross-text multiple matching" part.

There are 4 questions and you are suppose to answer them with the 4 writers. My question is: Why sometimes in the answers they forget one writer and put twice the same writer? Is it possible? Do you have any trick to deal with the exercise?

Thank you very much.

David.

Answer

This is deliberate. They don't 'forget' one writer. This system is used is to stop candidates guessing the pattern of answers.

There are four writers and four questions. This task would be far too easy if every set of answers were B,C,A,D or C,A,B,D for example, wouldn't it? That would give us a very limited range of possibilities. If everyone knew that each writer was the answer to one question, candidates would do the first questions and then guess the rest. You'd put D, A and B for the answers to 1 2 and 3, and then you'd guess that the answer to 4 must be C.

Exam-writers don't want this happening, so one writer is nearly always the answer to two of the questions. It makes sense, doesn't it?

Answer

Don't worry, Gary. I'm on the case. This is my home turf.

Answer

Cambridge Advanced Exam.

Thanks.

Answer

You might need to explain what you are talking about. To me CAE is computer aided engineering!