In the Reading test you’ll see a number of different question types. Let’s look at some of those question types and talk about the best way to approach them.
>>MULTIPLE CHOICE
Read the question carefully. Sometimes you have to choose one correct answer, sometimes you have to choose more than one answer from a list. Usually, all the choices of answer will be mentioned somewhere in the text. Read carefully to eliminate the answers until you have the correct one.
Look at this example:
Here’s a paragraph from the text:
The average urban resident, for example, rouses at the eye-blearing time of 6.04 a.m., which researchers believe to be far too early. One study found that even rising at 7.00 a.m. has deleterious effects on health unless exercise is performed for 30 minutes afterward. The optimum moment has been whittled down to 7.22 a.m.; muscle aches, headaches and moodiness were reported to be lowest by participants in the study who awoke then.
And here’s the question:
What did researchers identify as the ideal time to wake up in the morning? B 7.00 C 7.22 D 7.30
From the text we know that 6:04 is ‘far too early’. 7:00 has ‘deleterious effects on health’ - a negative impact. 7:22 is ‘the optimum moment’ and 7:30 isn’t mentioned - although 30 minutes of exercise is. So the answer is C - the ‘optimum moment’.
>>TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN
the difficulty here is spotting the difference between ‘False’ and ‘Not given’. Sometimes this means ignoring what you think and just concentrating on what the text actually tells you. Look at these examples:
Bookkeeping This course will provide students with a comprehensive understanding of bookkeeping and a great deal of hands-on experience. Code B/ED020 19th April 9am–2.30pm (one session only so advance bookings essential) Cost $250
And here are the questions:
Q: Bookkeeping has no practical component. Q: Bookkeeping is intended for advanced students only.
The first sentence is FALSE because we know that the course has ‘hands-on experience’. The second sentence is NOT GIVEN because nothing in the text tells us about the level of the course.
>>YES / NO / NOT GIVEN
This is similar to True/False/Not given – you have to identify the views of the writer. Look at an example:
Helium is even cheerfully derided as a “loner” element since it does not adhere to other molecules like its cousin, hydrogen. According to Dr. Lee Sobotka, helium is the “most noble of gases, meaning it’s very stable and non-reactive for the most part … it has a closed electronic 12 configuration, a very tightly bound atom. It is this coveting of its own electrons that prevents combination with other elements’. Another important attribute is helium’s unique boiling point, which is lower than that for any other element.
And here are the questions:
Q: Helium chooses to be on its own. Q: Helium is a very cold substance.
For the first sentence, we know that helium is ‘a loner’ so, YES, the author thinks helium likes to be on its own. We learn too that helium has a low boiling point but we don’t know whether or not it’s very cold so the answer is NOT GIVEN
