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All advice are from British Council
http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/reading-exams
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While you read
The way you read texts in a reading exam is very different to how you
read a magazine, a web page or a book. These tips will help you to
read the text in the right way and give you lots of advice on how to
get the best mark you can in the exam.
Difficult questions
Difficult vocabulary
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How to read the text?
How you read the text will depend on whether you are reading it for
the first, second or even third time. These techniques will help you.
Skimming
The first time you read a text, read it quickly to get a general idea.
Your eyes follow the text from start to finish.
Skim the introduction to get an idea of what the text is about.
Scanning
The first time you read a text, scan it quickly to find specific
information.
Your eyes move quickly all over the text; from left to right, up or
down.
Scan to find names, places, numbers or dates.
As you read the text, circle the numbers, dates, names, etc.
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How to read the text?
How you read the text will depend on whether you are reading it for
the first, second or even third time. These techniques will help you.
MEESTERGIJS.NL/vaardigheden/lezen
Difficult questions
There are always one or two tricky questions in exams so don’t panic
if there is a question you don’t understand or can’t find the answer
to.
Is there a difficult question you can’t answer? Leave it and come back
at the end.
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Find the answer
Finding the answer is the main objective in a reading exam. Use these
tips to help you.
Find the paragraph in the text that is connected to the question. Read
the question again and then return to the text to find the answer.
Underline, or highlight, the parts of the text that help you focus and
find exactly the right answers.
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Difficult vocabulary
There will usually be some words in the text that you don’t
understand. The important thing is to be able to ‘read around’ the
unknown words. These tips will help you learn how to do this.
Use the context to help you understand the meaning. Read the whole
sentence and the sentences before and after.
There is more….
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Difficult vocabulary
There will usually be some words in the text that you don’t
understand. The important thing is to be able to ‘read around’ the
unknown words. These tips will help you learn how to do this.
Look for synonyms in the text. Well written texts use synonyms rather
than repeating the same word. If you don’t know the word, it may be
a synonym of another word in the text.
Think about the topic. Which words do you know related to the topic?
Is the word similar to another word you know? E.g. birth is similar to
birthday.
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Types of questions
Match the headings with the paragraphs
True or false
Multiple choice
Open-ended questions
Vocabulary in a text
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Match the headings with the paragraphs
In order to do this type of task well you must understand the gist, or
main ideas, of each paragraph. These tips will help you do this task
well.
Then read the paragraphs carefully and match the ones you are sure
about.
If you are not sure about one, leave it and move on to the next one.
You may be able to match up ones you are not sure about by
elimination at the end.
Be careful with extra options, e.g. six headings to match with four
paragraphs. There will be two headings you don’t need.
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True or false?
True or false tasks can be a bit tricky, but these tips will help you do
well in the exam.
Read the sentences in the exercise carefully. Use what you know to
work out if the sentences are true or false before you read the text.
Read the text to confirm what you think.
Underline the part of the text that has the information. Find evidence
from the text that tells you if the sentence is true or false.
Sometimes you have to answer true, false or doesn’t say. Doesn’t say
options are usually more difficult, but less frequent.
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Multiple choice
Multiple choice questions can be more difficult than they first appear
as often two of the options are quite similar. These tips will help you
to do well in multiple choice questions.
Read all the options carefully. If possible, use what you know already
to work out any options that are not possible.
Find the part of the text with the information. Find key words in the
text that tell you which option is correct.
Look out for words such as always, never, might, may or could. They
can help you decide if an option is correct or not.
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Open-ended questions
You have to think about your writing for this type of question. Find
out if your spelling and grammar has to be perfect in your answers in
order to get top marks. Sometimes, bad writing can lose you marks in
this part of a reading exam.
Always use information from the text to answer, not just your opinion.
Don’t copy from the text. Use your own words. Rewrite the
information in another way that means the same.
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Put paragraphs in correct order
To order paragraphs of a text, you have to work like a detective and
look for clues to help you. These tips will show you how.
Read all the paragraphs before deciding on the correct order.
the same idea: too, also, furthermore, in addition, what’s more, etc.
reason and result: so, as a result, consequently, for this reason, since,
as, because of this, due to, etc.
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Put paragraphs in correct order
To order paragraphs of a text, you have to work like a detective and
look for clues to help you. These tips will show you how.
Read all the paragraphs before deciding on the correct order.
possessive pronouns (my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our,
ours, their, theirs)
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Vocabulary in a text
These suggestions will help you get the questions right:
Read the whole sentence with the word and the sentences before and
after. Use the context to understand the meaning of the word.
What is the topic of the text? Is the word related to the subject of the
text?
Does it have a prefix? E.g. the prefixes un- , in- or dis- make a word
negative, the prefix re- means ‘again’, etc.
Does it have a suffix? The suffixes -tion, -sion or -ment are used in
nouns, -ive, -able or -ful are used in adjectives, etc.
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Vocabulary in a text
These suggestions will help you get the questions right:
Is the word similar to another word you know? E.g. birth is similar to
birthday.
Is there another word in the text that means the same? We often use
synonyms in a text so we don’t repeat words.
Check that your definition or answer is the same part of speech as the
original word.
When you learn a new word, write down other words in the same
family, e.g. possible: possibility (n), impossible (prefix), possibly
(adv).
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Writer’s opinion or reader’s response
At higher levels you may be asked to consider the writer’s opinion or
to give your opinion about a text.
Does the type of text help you understand the writer’s aim? E.g. a
story is to entertain, a leaflet to advise or a report to inform.
Look for language in the text that indicates the writer’s intention.
E.g. ‘We should use...’, ‘Experts warn us that...’ to advise.
Look for language in the text that indicates the writer’s opinion.
E.g. ‘In my view..’, ‘I refuse to believe that...’ etc.
Do you agree or disagree with things in the text? Explain why with
your own words. ‘I agree that...because...’.
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All advice are from British Council
http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/reading-exams
MEESTERGIJS.NL/vaardigheden/lezen
Reading tips
@meestergijs
MEESTERGIJS.NL/vaardigheden/lezen