Si bien podría decirse que Spotify se trata de una simple aplicación de reproducción de listas de música, gracias a la evolución que ha sufrido en los últimos años y a las mejoras implementadas, la plataforma ha conseguido consolidarse como una de las preferidas por los usuarios y es que, la posibilidad de leer en tiempo real las letras de las canciones, elaborar listas de reproducción compartidas o escuchar podcasts y audiolibros, han hecho que Spotify se convierta en una herramienta perfecta para el aprendizaje de idiomas.
A continuación, te proponemos practicar las partes 1, 2, 3 y 4 del ‘Use of English’ de tu examen de FCE de Cambridge con un formato diferente, mucho más motivador y, sobre todo, pegadizo. Para realizar la práctica solo necesitas papel, un lápiz y leer detenidamente la descripción de las tareas propuestas más abajo para poder llevarlas a cabo.
Una vez hayas terminado, podrás comprobar tus respuestas accediendo al enlace que encontrarás al final de cada canción para escucharlas detenidamente en Spotify, practicando, al mismo tiempo, la comprensión auditiva.
USE OF ENGLISH PART 1
For questions 1 – 8, read the lyrics below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. There’s an example at the beginning [0]
Example:
0 A thinkin’ B imaginin’ C considerin’ D guessin’
Verse 1
I’ve been (0) …………….’ ‘bout my father lately
The person that he made me
The person I’ve (1) …………………….
And I’ve been trying to fill all of this empty
But, fuck, I’m still so empty
And I could use (2) …………………… love
| 1. A come B become C changed D turned 2. A a B any C no D some 3. A awake B get C ascend D go 4. A many B so C much D several 5. A ever B still C never D always 6. A how B who C what D which 7. A look B fill C try D feel 8. A do B deal C work D solve |
Pre-chorus
And I’ve been trying to find a reason
to (3)…………………up
Been trying to find a reason for this stuff
In my bedroom and my closet
The baggage in my heart
is still (4) ……………..dark
Chorus
Modern loneliness, we’re never alone
But (5) ……………. depressed, yeah
Love my friends to death
But I never call and I never text, yeah
La di da di da
You get what you give and give what you get, so
Modern loneliness, we love to get high
But we don’t know (6) …………..to come down
Verse 2
If I could break my DNA to pieces
Get rid of all my demons
If I could cleanse my soul
Then I could (7) …………… the world
with all my problems
But, shit, that wouldn’t (8) ……………. them
So, I’m left here alone
Repeat Pre-chorus
Repeat Chorus
Bridge
Down, down, down, down, down
We don’t know how to come down
Repeat Chorus
Repeat Bridge
Outro
Modern loneliness, we’re never alone
But always depressed, yeah
Escucha la canción ‘Modern Loneliness’, de Lauv y comprueba tus respuestas.
USE OF ENGLISH PART 2
For questions 1 – 8, read the lyrics below and think of the word which best fits each gap.
When your legs don’t work like they used to before
And I can’t sweep you (1) …………………of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love
Will your eyes (2) ………………. smile from your cheeks
And darling I will be loving you (3) ………………. we’re 70
And baby my heart could still fall (4) …………………. hard at 23
And I’m thinking ‘bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Oh me I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am
So honey now
Take me (5) ………………. your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I’m thinking out loud
Maybe we found love right where we are
When my hair’s all but gone and my memory fades
And the crowds don’t remember my name
When my hands don’t play the strings the same (6) ..………….,
I know you will still love me the same
‘Cause honey your soul can never grow (7) ……………., it’s evergreen
Baby your smile’s forever in my mind and memory
I’m thinking ‘bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe it’s all part of a plan
I’ll just keep (8) …………………. making the same mistakes
Hoping that you’ll understand
Chorus
Oh baby, we found love right where we are (maybe)
And we found love right where we are.
Escucha la canción ‘ThinkingOutLoud’, de Ed Sheeran y comprueba tus respuestas.
USE OF ENGLISH PART 3
For questions 1- 11, read the lyrics 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.
When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, (1) ……………………………..
And all the birds in the trees, well they’d be singing so (2)
……………………, oh (3) ………………….., (4)
…………………….. watching me.
But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible,
logical, oh responsible, practical.
And they showed me a world where I could be so
(5)……………….., oh clinical, oh intellectual, cynical.
There are times when all the world’s (6)…………………….
The questions run too deep
For such a simple man
Won’t you please, please tell me what we’ve learned
I know it sounds absurd
Please tell me who I am.
I said, watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical
Liberal, oh (7)…………………………, criminal.
Won’t you sign up your name, we’d like to feel you’re
(8)……………….. (9) ………………….., oh (10)
…………………….., a vegetable
Oh, take it take it yeah.
Chorus
‘Cause I was feeling so logical
D-d-digital
One, two, three, five
Oh, oh, oh, oh
It’s getting (11) ………………………..
| 1. Magic 2. Happy 3. Joy 4. Play 5. Depend 6. Sleep 7. Fan 8. Accept 9. Respect 10. Present 11. Believe |
Escucha la canción ‘TheLogicalSong’, de Supertramp y comprueba tus respuestas.
USE OF ENGLISH PART 4
For questions 1-4, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the sentence in italics and between brackets, using the word given. Do not change the word given.
I wish I found some better sounds
No one’s ever heard
(It’s a pity I don’t have a better voice)
(1) I ……………………………….………………….……………………….…(wish)
That sang some better words
(It’s a shame I don’t find some chords in an order that is new)
(2)I.…………………………………….………………..……………………….(wish)
(Pity I have to rhyme every time I sing)
(3) I ………………………………………………………………………………(wish)
(People used to tell me all my fears would shrink when I get older)
(4) I ……………………………………………………………………………….(told)
But now I’m insecure
And I care what people think
My name’s Blurryface and I care what you think (x2)
Chorus
Wish we could turn back time
To the good old days
When our momma sang us to sleep
But now we’re stressed out
Wish we could turn back time
To the good old days
When our momma sang us to sleep
But now we’re stressed out
We’re stressed out
Sometimes a certain smell will
Take me back to when I was young
How come I’m never able to identify
Where it’s coming from?
I’d make a candle out of it
If I ever found it
Try to sell it, never sell out of it
I’d probably only sell one
It’d be to my brother, cause we have the same nose
Same clothes, home grown
The stone’s throw from a creek we used to roam
But it would remind us of when
Nothing really mattered
Out of student loans and tree house homes
We all would take the latter
My name’s Blurryface and I care what you think (x2)
Chorus
Used to play pretend
Give each other different names
We would build a rocket ship and then we’d fly it far away
Used to dream of outer space
But now they’re laughing at our face singing
«Wake up, you need to make money», yeah (x2)
Chorus
We used to play pretend, used to play pretend, money
We used to play pretend, wake up you need the money
Used to play pretend, used to play pretend, money
We used to play pretend, wake up you need the money
Used to play pretend
Give each other different names
…
Escucha la canción ‘StressedOut’, de Twenty One Pilots y comprueba tus respuestas.
Stay tuned for more songs and practice 😊
Manuela Mena es Licenciada en Traducción e Interpretación, Máster en Neuropsicología, Experta en Docencia Online &Qualified CELTA Teacher. Actualmente trabaja como directora académica de la escuela de idiomas TheLanguage House y CEO de la consultora educativa feelthelanguage.com. Asimismo, imparte clases en la Universidad Antonio de Nebrija y el SDI de Múnich, además de examinar para los diferentes niveles de Cambridge ESOL.