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
1
English, such as public notices, advertisements and timetables

contains two texts which focus on the workplace environment, such as job
2
descriptions, contracts and staff development and training materials

one long text designed to test your ability to cope with longer, more complex
3 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 writer’s claims or views

 Identifying information

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 1

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 1–8
ete the senttences below.
Comple
Choose
e NO MORE
E THAN TH
HREE WOR
RDS from the text for ea
ach answerr.

Write yo
our answerss in boxes 1–8
1 on yourr answer sh
heet.

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

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

3 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 ch gives a list of beneficial work prractices
he test whic
for keyb
board opera
ators.

Questio
ons 15–21
The texxt on the nexxt page hass seven secctions, A–G.
Choose
e the correcct heading fo
or each secction from th
he list of hea
adings belo
ow.
Write th
he correct number, i–x, in boxes 15–21 on yo
our answer sheet.

Lis
st of Headin
ngs
i How can
c reflectio
on problems
s be avoide
ed?
ii How long should I work with
hout a breakk?
iii nce any pro
What if I experien oblems?
iv n is the bestt time to do filing chore
When es?
v 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
What are the role gement and
d workers?
ix Why does
d a VDU
U create eye
e fatigue?
x Where
e should I place
p the do
ocuments?

15 Section A
16 Section B
17 Section C

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B Council 2012.
2 All rights reserved.
r 2
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

This lab e test about how anima
als use elecctric signals
s to
detect location.

Questio
ons 7–9
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 7–9
7 on yourr answer sh
heet.

Shark’ss 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

© The British
B Council 2012.
2 All rights reserved.
r 3
Identify
ying the wrriter’s claim
ms or views
s

This tassk is linked to a text in the test desscribing diffferent kinds of short bu
usiness courses.

ons 9–14
Questio
Do the following sttatements agree
a with th
he informatiion given in
n the text?

In boxe
es 9–14 on your
y answe
er sheet, wriite

TRUE
T if the statemment agrees with the in
nformation
FA
FALSE if the statemment contra
adicts the in
nformation
N
NOT GIVEN
N if there is no
n informatio
on on this

9 B
Business Ba
asics is apprropriate for beginners.

10 B
Bookkeeping
g has no pra
actical comp
ponent.

11 B
Bookkeeping d for advanced students only.
g is intended

12 The New Enterprise Mo

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

© The British
B Council 2012.
2 All rights reserved.
r 4
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 29–35
Questio
The texxt has eight paragraphss, A–H.
Which paragraph
p c
contains the
e following information
i ?
Write th
he correct le
etter, A–H, in
i boxes, 29
9–35 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 h and strength

oach to all-rround health

33 re t survival of callisthenics throughout the ag

easons for the ges

34 he use of a medical sub

th bstance to increase
i uscle mass and streng
mu gth

35 g showmen who displayed their sttrength for a

a reference to travelling audiences

nd advice for
Tips an f getting the score you
y need

o approach the task

How to

 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.

 Reead 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 intoo 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
onnly 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 particcular
de
eparture tim
me.

© The British
B Council 2012.
2 All rights reserved.
r 5
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. 6