Reading

Information about the test

The British Council 2012. All rights reserved.

The reading test

The basics
The reading test has 40 questions to answer in total. All questions are equally important:
you get one mark for each correct answer. The test lasts for 60 minutes. This includes time
to copy your answers onto the answer sheet. No additional time is given to transfer your
answers at the end of 60 minutes.
The content of the test will depend on whether you are taking the Academic or General
Training modules.
Academic module overview
This module contains three reading texts. Texts come from magazines, journals, books and
newspapers and are written for a general or non-specialist audience. Texts may include
diagrams, graphs and illustrations.
General Training module overview
This module contains three sections of progressively more difficult content.
Section

Focus

may contain two or three short texts relevant to basic linguistic survival in
English, such as public notices, advertisements and timetables

contains two texts which focus on the workplace environment, such as job
descriptions, contracts and staff development and training materials

one long text designed to test your ability to cope with longer, more complex
passages found in newspapers, magazines, and fiction and non-fiction book
extracts

What kind of tasks to expect

Expect to find a variety of task types and answer formats in both test modules. Here are
examples of the main task types. You may also find short-answer questions, summary
completion and table completion as well as various forms of multiple choice.
Any of the following (though not all) may appear in any section:

Sentence completion

Various kinds of matching

Labelling flow-charts or other kinds of diagram

Identifying the writers claims or views

Identifying information

The British Council 2012. All rights reserved.

Senten
nce comple
etion
This completion task is linked to a text in the test ab
bout emerge
ency proced
dures on a school
s
campuss.
Questio
ons 18
Comple
ete the senttences below.
Choose
e NO MORE
E THAN TH
HREE WOR
RDS from the text for ea
ach answerr.
Write yo
our answerss in boxes 18
1 on yourr answer sh
heet.
1

In
n an emerge
ency, a teaccher will eith
her phone the
t office orr
.. .

The signal fo
or evacuatio
on will norm
mally be seve
eral .. .

If possible, students sho

ould leave the building by the
.. .

Various
s kinds of matching
This ma
atching taskk is linked to
o a text in th
he test whic
ch gives a list of beneficial work prractices
for keyb
board opera
ators.
Questio
ons 1521
The texxt on the nexxt page hass seven secctions, AG.
Choose
e the correcct heading fo
or each secction from th
he list of hea
adings belo
ow.
Write th
he correct number, ix, in boxes 1521 on yo
our answer sheet.
Lis
st of Headin
ngs

15

Section A

16

Section B

17

Section C

How can
c reflectio
on problems
s be avoide
ed?

ii

How long should I work with

hout a breakk?

iii

nce any pro

oblems?
What if I experien

iv

n is the bestt time to do filing chore

es?
When

What makes a go
ood seat?

vi

What are the com

mmon health problemss?

vii

What is the best kind of lightting to have

e?

viii

es of manag
gement and
d workers?
What are the role

ix

d
a VDU
U create eye
e fatigue?
Why does

Where
e should I place
p
the do
ocuments?

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18

Section D

19

Section E

20

Section F

21

Section G

Labelling flow-charts or oth

her kinds off diagram
belling task is linked to a text in the
e test about how anima
als use elecctric signals
s to
This lab
detect location.
Questio
ons 79
Label th
he diagram..
Choose
e NO MORE
E THAN TW
WO WORDS
S from the passage
p
forr each answ
wer.
Write yo
our answerss in boxes 79
7 on yourr answer sh
heet.
Sharkss 7
ale
ert the young
g ray to its presence.
p
Embryo
o moves its 8 in order
o
to brea
athe.
Embryo
o stops send
ding 9
when pred
dator close by.
b

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Identify
ying the wrriters claim
ms or views
s
This tassk is linked to a text in the test desscribing diffferent kinds of short bu
usiness courses.
ons 914
Questio
Do the following sttatements agree
a
with th
he informatiion given in
n the text?
In boxe
es 914 on your
y
answe
er sheet, wriite
TRUE
T
FA
FALSE
N
NOT
GIVEN
N

if the statem
ment agrees with the in
nformation
if the statem
ment contra
adicts the in
nformation
if there is no
n informatio
on on this

B
Business
Ba
asics is apprropriate for beginners.

10

B
Bookkeeping
g has no pra
actical comp
ponent.

11

B
Bookkeeping
g is intended
d for advanced students only.

12

The New Enterprise Mo

odule can he
elp your bus
siness beco
ome more p
profitable.

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Identify
ying inform
mation
This tassk is linked to a text in the test desscribing diffferent kinds of callisthe
enic physica
al
training activities.
ons 2935
Questio
The texxt has eight paragraphss, AH.
Which paragraph
p
c
contains
the
e following information
i
?
Write th
he correct le
etter, AH, in
i boxes, 29
935 on your answer sheet.
s
29

th
he origin of the
t word ca
allisthenics

30

th
he last popu
ular supportter of callisth
henics

31

th
he first use of
o callisthen
nics as a tra
aining method

32

a multidisciplinary appro
oach to all-rround health
h and strength

33

re
easons for the
t survival of callisthenics throughout the ag
ges

34

th
he use of a medical sub
bstance to increase
i
mu
uscle mass and streng
gth

35

a reference to travelling
g showmen who displayed their sttrength for a
audiences

nd advice for
f getting the score you
y need
Tips an
How to
o approach the task

Lo
ook carefullyy at any textt title, subtittles or diagrrams. This will
w give you
u a quick ov
verview
of what the te
ext is about.

Re
ead the instructions forr each task carefully. Check
C
the maximum
m
nu
umber of wo
ords
allo
owed.

Se
et yourself a time limit to
t tackle each section.

How to
o read the texts

Ke
eep in mind
d that your main
m
aim is to locate th
he answers to the quesstions. You do not
ne
eed to read the text slo
owly and ca
arefully; do not
n stop to think
t
about every unkn
nown
word.

If a text is org
ganised into
o paragraph
hs, a good way
w to get the general meaning an
nd to
fa
amiliarise yo
ourself with the overall content is to
t spend the
e first 2-3 m
minutes read
ding
on
nly the first and last sentence of each
e
paragra
aph.

So
ome text typ
pes are suitted to scan--reading: lo
ooking quickkly for speciific details such
s
as
a fact or particular vocab
bulary item,, e.g. readin
ng a train tim
metable to ffind a partic
cular
de
eparture tim
me.

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How to approach the different task types

Make sure that your answers keep to the word limit stated in the test paper. For
example, if you are asked for NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS, then do not write
more.

With multiple choice questions, try and use common sense to eliminate some of the
answer options.

When matching headings to paragraphs, read the headings first. Then read the first and
last sentence of each paragraph. This is often enough to match headings correctly.

When gap-filling, read the gapped text carefully and think about both the meaning and
grammar of suitable words to fill the gaps. Note down your ideas in the gap on the
question paper so that when you read the text you are then reading to check your ideas.

Never leave a gap blank. You do not lose marks for incorrect answers.

In the test

Do not forget that you must write your answers directly on your answer sheet. You will
not be given extra time to do this at the end of the 60-minute reading test.

Remember that your written answers need to be grammatically accurate and spelled
correctly. You will lose marks for incorrect spelling.

Think about skipping difficult questions and coming back to them later. If you do this,
make sure you highlight the questions you skip so that you can find them again.

Good luck in your reading test!

The British Council 2012. All rights reserved.