I was booked on an early flight so I ________________________________ (1) no time in getting showered and dressed, and ________________________________ (2) for the airport. It was only when I felt the aircraft leave the runway, and saw Manhattan ________________________________ (3) into the distance behind me, that I finally began to relax.

Even at nine o'clock in the morning Phoenix was hot. It was a physical shock to walk out of the cool, dark terminal into the bright reflection of the sunlight. Locals ambled slowly past in short-sleeved shirts and sunglasses. In less than a minute I was sweating in my suit as I carried my bags over to the large sign which read ‚Bloomfield Weiss High Yield Bond Conference‘.

They had ________________________________ (4) on white stretch limousines to take the conference participants to the hotel. Within seconds I was back in air-conditioned quiet again. I supposed that it was ________________________________ (5) possible to spend all of your life in Phoenix at 18° centigrade, with only brief ________________________________ (6) of extra heat as you transfered from air-conditioned house to air-conditioned car to air-conditioned office.

This is an official sample of a CPE test. Copyright © Cambridge University ESOL.
Used with permission.

1. 1. a) left
   2. b) lost
   3. c) made
   4. d) used
2. 1. a) headed
   2. b) pressed
   3. c) proceeded
   4. d) set
3. 1. a) abating
   2. b) receding
   3. c) reversing
   4. d) withdrawing
4. 1. a) catered
   2. b) furnished
   3. c) laid
   4. d) sorted
5. 1. a) perfectly
   2. b) purely
   3. c) solidly
   4. d) starkly
6. 1. a) bursts
   2. b) fits
   3. c) gales
   4. d) torrents