The following table introduces the different question types, and discusses what

you need to do to tackle the questions.

.••AnsWersare in passage order.

• Write up to three wbrds and/or
a .number. . . .· .·
•Check spellingwithpassage.
• Check grmmhar ofcompleted

o Answers are in passage order.

· • Writeup to three words and/or

a number.
.·• Checkspellingwith.passage.
• Don't include any unnecessary
. words,

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 • Statements are not in passage
order.
• Boxed items are usually in
passage order.
• Write A, B, etc.
• Some letters may be used
more than once.
• Some letters may not be used.

· • Answers are in passage order.

. • Write A, B, C, etc.
· • Some letters may notbe used.
• ·Check grantrnar and ·meaning
of sentence.

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You choose the correct • Answers are in passage order.
letter A; B, C or D. • Write A, B, Cor D.
• Check other options are
wrong.

You complete the gaps • Answers may not be in

in the summary using passage order.
words from the passage • Write up to three words
and/or a number. .
• Check spelling with passage.
• Check grammar and spelling
of completed summary.
• Don't include any unnecessary
words.

• Answers are not irt passage

gory some statements or order.
features belong to. • Write A, B, C, etc.
• Some letters may be used
more than once.
• Some letters may not be used.

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 . ·.:.

You pick the conect • Answers may not be in passage

from a list of order.
• Write A, B, C, etc.
• Each answer may score one
mark or the whole question may
score one mark.

• Sentence completion
Complete the sentences by writing one to three words and/or a number from
the passage. The answers are in passage order. Try to predict the kind of words
missing before you look for answers. Decide what type of information is missing,
e.g. place name, date, noun, adjective, etc.

Remember you should only use words from the passage, and you must use
no more words thatn you are asked to use. They should be written exactly as
they are in the reading passage. Do not include unnecessary words, or repeat
words that are already provided in the sentence.

Strategy Plan
Read the insh·uctions carefully, underline the keywords, see how many words
you are required to write. Note grammatical clues, e.g. atiicles or prepositions
which might lead you to find the answers. Underline the key words around each
gap to help you find the right part of the passage which includes the same words
or synonyms. The completed pa1i should be grammatical and it should make sense.

Notes/ Table/ Flow chart completion

Complete the gaps using 1 to 3 words and/or a number from the passage.
Some of the information may already be completed to help you. Remember, the
answers may not necessarily be in the passage order.

In this section, the questions are not full sentences, so you needn ' t worry
about the grammatical correctness of a sentence.

Strategy Plan
- Complete the gaps using words from the passage.
- Answers may not be in the passage order.

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 - Pay attention to the number of words or digits you should copy.
- Check spelling with passage.
- Don't include unnecessary words. Some answers are telegraphic.

Short Answer Questions

Answer the questions using 1 to 3 words and/or a number from the passage.
The answers are in the passage order. Underline the key words in the questions
that tell you what kind of information to find and how much to write. These key
words are often words such as when, who, which, how m.any, etc.

Strategy Plan
- Read the instructions carefully to see how many words you can write.
- Underline the key words.
- Read the passage quickly to find words that are the same as the key words
or have a similar meaning.
-Read around these words to find the answer. Guess what words to find.

Labeling a diagram
- You name parts of a diagram using 1-3 words and/or a number from the
passage. The parts to be labeled will have an arrow and the question number
beside them. The answers may not be in the passage order.

Strategy Plan
- Read the instructions carefully.
- Pay particular attention to expressions of place such as in the middle oj; in
the corner, beyond this, next to, above/below, leads to, etc.
- Note any labels already provided, as these can help you find the answer.

True/ False/ Not Given

You decide whether the statement agrees with or contradicts the infom1ation in
the passage, or whether there is no information about the statement. The answers are
in the passage order but they may be grouped together in one part or spread across
the passage. True means you can fmd the same thing using the same or different
words. False means you can find a contradiction or opposite idea in the passage. Not
Given means there is no mention of this piece of information in the passage and if
there is, it is not exactly so. The infonnation is distorted, something is missing or
there's something less or more distorting and changing the meaning. You need to
wtite T, F, or NG. However, it is best to wtite the words in full.

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Strategy Plan
-Read the statements carefully and underline the key words.
- Read the passage to find the same words or equivalents.
- Try to find the right part of the passage.
- Read around the words in the passage and see whether the information
agrees, contradicts or whether nothing is said about it.
- Decide whether your final answer is T, F or NG.
- Try to improve your understanding of NG through doing tests.

Global Multiple Choice

You should decide what the main idea/theme/topic of the passage is, or why
the passage was written, or choose a suitable title for the passage.

Strategy Plan
- Underline the key words in the question and the four choices.
- Read the sentences containing the main ideas in each paragraph (mostly
first and sometimes last sentences).
- Cross out any options you think is definitely wrong.
- Decide which option is correct.

Matching
You should match statements to items in a box. There may not be a matching
statement for every item in the box, while you may need to use some items in
the box more than once. The items in the box are mostly in the passage order,
but the statements are in the random order.

Strategy Plan
- Start with the items in the box because they are usually in the passage order.
Underline these in the passage. Some items may appear more than once in
the passage, so it is important to find them all.
- Read the statements and mark the key words.
-Read around the first item (A) you have marked in the passage and read the
statements quickly to see whether any of them matches. If A occurs in other
parts of the passage, read around these parts, too.
-If you think two items (A, B) fit any statements (1) you have to review and
revise your answer, because there is only one answer for each statement.

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Finding information in the passage
You should find the paragraph that contains the information in the question.
You may have to find a detail, an idea, a comparison, an example, etc. Some
paragraphs may contain the information required in more than one question,
while other paragraphs may not be tested.

Strategy Plan
- Underline the key words in the questions.
- Think about what you need to look for.
- Read the first paragraph and quickly go through the questions.
- Mark any parts of the paragraph matching the key words of the questions .
- If you think a question can be matched to more than one paragraph, make
a note of this and come back to the question later to make a decision. Look
for stronger evidence.

Sentence completion with a box

You should choose the correct ending from a box of options to make a com-
plete sentence containing an idea from the passage. There will be some extra
endings that you do not need to use. You may be able to use some of the end-
ings more than once. The answers are in the passage order.

Strategy Plan
- Read the first unfinished statement carefully and underline the key words .
-Use the key words to find the idea in the passage.
-Read around the information in the passage to make sure you understand it.
- Read the list of endings and underline the key words.
- Choose the ending which best fits and make sure the ending is logical and
fits grammatically.

Yes/ No/ Not Given

This section is like the True/False/ Not Given part. For this section you only
need to write Y, N or NG. However, it is best to write the words in full so that
your answer is clear.

Strategy Plan
- Read the first statement and re-phrase it in your own words.
- Underline the key words or phrases in the first statement and read the passage
for these. Often you find the same words, names, or numbers in the passage.
- Get started in the right part of the passage.
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 - Read around the words in the passage and see whether the view that is
expressed agrees with the statement, contradicts it, or whether nothing is said
about it.

Multiple Choice
You choose the correct answer from options (A, B, Cor D). The answers are
in the passage order.

Strategy Plan
- Underline the key words in the question or unfinished statement.
- Match these key words to key words in the passage. Look for the key words
in the right place.
- Underline the key words in the options and rephrase the ideas in your mind.
- Read around the section of text you have marked and see if you can find
words or expressions that match the options.
- Some word matches will occur, but check whether the passage is stating the
same or different from what is stated in the options. Names and numbers are
good clues to find the right section( s) very quickly.

Paragraph Headings
You should choose the correct heading for each paragraph from a list of
headings. There are always more headings than you need, so you won't need to
use them all. You can never use a heading more than once. There may be some
example headings too, so don't use these headings again. A heading covers the
main idea of a paragraph. Remember, false choices are attractive but wrong,
they might have a key word but not all.

Strategy Plan
- Read the headings and underline the key words.
- Read the first paragraph and mark the topic sentence/main idea.
- Re-phrase the main idea in your mind.
- Read the list of headings and try to find a match between the key words of
paragraphs and the heading key words.
- Choose the heading that best summarizes the main idea of the paragraph.
- If you think two headings fit one paragraph, mark both first and then rule
out one of them based on the stronger evidence the key words support.

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Summary completion
You should complete a summary by writing no more than three words and/or
a number from the passage in each gap. The summary may cover the ideas in
the whole passage or may be based on a section of the passage order. To com-
plete this task, you should only use words from the passage, and you must use
no more words than you are asked to use. They should be written exactly as they
are in the reading passage and correct spelling should be observed. Do not
include any unnecessary words, or repeat words that are already provided.

Strategy Plan
-Read the instructions carefully (how many words, which paragraph).
- Read the summary heading to help you fmd the right place to locate information.
-Read through the summary to get an idea of what it is about and how much
of the passage it covers.
-Decide what kind of word is needed (e.g., a name, an adjective).
-Note any grammatical clues (i.e., articles or prepositions) which may help
guess and find the answers
- Underline the key words around the gap
- Read the passage quickly to find the answers. Read above and below the
clues found to confirm your first guess and help you find the rest of the
answers.

Summary completion with a box

- You should complete the gaps in the summary by choosing the correct
answer from a box of options. The options are usually single words but they
may be short phrases. There are some extra words in the box that you don't need
to use. The summary may cover the ideas in the whole passage or may be based
on a section of the passage. Sometimes you need to recognize synonyms or
words that paraphrase ideas in the passage.

Classification
-You should decide which category some statements or features belong to.
The categories are usually A, B, C, etc. The statements are usually numbered
1, 2, 3, etc. The answers are not in the passage order.

Strategy Plan
-Underline categories in the passage. These are often names, dates or nouns.
Sometimes they are found across the whole passage.
- Underline the key words in the statements.
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 - Read around each category in the passage and re-read the statements.
-If you have both and/or neither categories, you should be more careful and
find two pieces of information.

Pick From a List

- You pick the correct answers from a list of options. There are usually two
or three to pick from about six options, but there may be more. The options are
labelled A, B, C, etc. The answers may not be in the passage order and you may
need to read a larger area of the passage.

Strategy Plan
- Read the question carefully and note how many options you must pick and
how many marks they are worth.
- Underline the key words in the questions and options.
- Read the passage and find words or expressions that match the options.
- Check the options you choose. They should mean the same as the ideas in
the passage.

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