Questions in the Cambridge Linguaskill General Reading & Listening test revolve around several fixed themes. In this post, we'll explain why themes matter in Linguaskill and provide a table of all themes used in Linguaskill General for easy reference.
A theme in Linguaskill means the context or background that a question is set in. Think of themes in Linguaskill like genres in a novel or short story.
To demonstrate this, here are two gapped sentence questions set in two different themes.
Example Question 2
Frank had the of his life with his colleagues at the Christmas party last night.
The theme in example question 1 is places/sports, whereas the theme in example question 2 is relationships/celebrations.
Themes are important because they dictate the vocabulary and expressions used in Linguaskill questions.
There are many advantages to familiarising yourself with themes in Linguaskill.
| themes | description |
|---|---|
| Communication | The Communication theme is the most important theme as its vocabulary, idioms, and fixed expressions are used in all other themes. |
| Journeys | The Journeys theme includes vocabulary, idioms, and fixed expressions related to travelling, going on a holiday, visiting new places, etc. |
| Food | The Food theme includes vocabulary, idioms, and fixed expressions related to common food and drink items, how they taste, objects related to food and drink, etc. |
| Health & Fitness | The Health & Fitness theme includes vocabulary, idioms, and fixed expressions related to one's health, sports, sickness, health status, etc. |
| Places | The Places theme includes vocabulary, idioms, and fixed expressions related to weather, the natural world, buildings, cities, directions, etc. |
| Work & Study | The Work & Study theme includes vocabulary, idioms, and fixed expressions related to careers, jobs, school, learning, knowledge, objects related to work and education, etc. |
| Relationships | The Relationships theme includes vocabulary, idioms, and fixed expressions related to emotions, people, community, festivals, relationship status, etc. |
| Art & Media | The Art & Media theme includes vocabulary, idioms, and fixed expressions related to media communications, items related to multimedia (TV, radio, animation, social media, newspapers...), music, entertainment, etc. |
