Reading FAQ

You get 60 minutes to complete the reading section. Something important to remember is that unlike the listening section, you don’t get extra 10 minutes to transfer your answers from the booklet to the answer sheet. You need to start writing your answers on the answer sheet from the beginning.

There are three sections in the academic reading test. Each section has one long passage that has been taken from books, magazines, newspapers, or academic journals. These passages usually deal with subject matters that you might encounter during your studies at university.

While there are three sections in the general training reading test just like the academic one, the number of passages might vary. This is because the passages in the general training test are shorter. Section 1 of the test usually deals with your social skills. It’s about problems that you might face on a daily basis in an English-speaking country. Section 2 is about situations that you might encounter at work. Section 3 has one long text which is usually more complex. This text can be taken from books, magazines, or newspapers.

If you are taking the paper test, those who are sitting the test with you might be taking the academic or the general training test. All the academic test takers answer the same questions and all the general training candidates answer the same general training reading questions. If you are taking the computer delivered test, everyone in the room is answering a different set of questions.

Yes, accurate spelling is extremely important. Your entire answer to a question will be crossed out if you drop a letter! You need to be very careful.

If you’re taking the academic test, you get 60 minutes for three passages. However, the passages increase in the level of difficulty as you proceed. It is recommended that you spend 18 minutes on the first passage, 20 minutes on the second, and 22 minutes on the last passage. It’s very important that you skip a question if you don’t know the answer. Wasting your time on one question can mean you run short of time for the last passage.

You can mark the passage and write on the question paper but the examiner will not look at your question paper. In fact, your question papers are shredded after the test is over. Make sure you write all the answers on the answer sheet during the given 60 minutes.

Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. You need to mark the reading passage as you are reading. You can even use your mother tongue to write on the question paper. It is good practice to quickly write what each paragraph is about as you are skimming. This can help you in locating the answer when you’re reading the question. In most cases, you can’t simply scan for a given word to find the answer. Unless it’s a person’s name, they usually give you synonyms for the keywords, which makes locating the answer more difficult.

No. You don’t get a negative score for the wrong answer.