Reading by task type

Approach
 Reading Skills & Strategies 8: Try different approaches and see
what works best for you
 It is a matter of opinion how to approach a reading passage. The key
point here is that different learners have different styles and different
needs. The best advice is to experiment and try different approaches
and see what works best for you.
 For example:Some people decide to skim the whole passage then read
the task questions whereas
 some candidates read the task questions first and then skim the
passage.
 Another example:
 Some candidates choose to skim the whole passage but some test-
takers prefer to skim the main ideas only.
 [Reading is a personal approac h. Choose the methods that work for
you]

 Previewing; use pre-reading skills
 Look at any parts of the text that stand out
 - title and sub-headings
 - illustrations and diagrams which might accompany the text
 - any special print; CAPITAL, Bold, italic, 'quotation',
underlined words
 - glossary (if any); specialised technical terms which you are not
expected to know are usually
 explained in a footnote at the end of the text.
 Use the information from these to predict the content of the
reading passage.
 Surveying the text helps you get a general idea of the text and
how it will be developed.

Strategies
1: You should use the exact words that are in the text. Do
not change the form of any words that you use in an
answer .
2: The answers should be written exactly as they are in
the passage. Do not include unnecessary words .
3: Language used in the questions will be paraphrased
will be the language used in the text .
4: This type of question tests your ability to find specific
information in the text .

5: For this task, you have to write answers to separate
'who, what, where, when and how' type questions, using
information that is provided in the passage .
6: The questions normally follow the order of
information in the passage .
7: Logically, most answers will be nouns, but other parts
of speech are possible .
8: Answer the questions using up to three words and/or
a number from the passage.
If it says NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS, then your
answer should not contain more words.

Roadmap
 Read the instructions carefully, as they will tell you how
many words you can use for each answer.
 The questions focus on particular points. Underline the key
words in each question and decide what kind of
information you should look for. Predict the answers.
 Skim and scan the text, focusing on relevant information.
Use the key words in the questions to locate the answers in
the passage. Look out for synonyms and parallel
expressions. Read carefully once you find the search areas.
 Make sure you use the exact words that are in the passage
and that you spell them correctly.

This task requires you to complete descriptions of
a diagram using words that appear in the text.

Instructions
1: Remember to use words and phrases that actually
appear in the text. Do not try to think of different
words or phrases with the same meaning.
2: This task tests your understanding of the specific
information.
3: The aim is to check that you can understand a
description of a process (mechanical or biological, for
example) or how something works, not to test
whether you already know specialised vocabulary
4: Questions do not necessarily follow the order in
which information is given in the passage as they do
in most other task types.

Procedure
 Read the instructions carefully to see how many words you
can write
 Look at the parts of the diagram to be labelled and identify
the type of word for each gap.
 Decide whether the missing information is a word or a
number. Predict the answers.
 Skim and scan the text, focusing on relevant information.
Use the key words in the questions to locate the answers in
the passage. Look out for synonyms and parallel
expressions. Read carefully once you find the search areas.
 Copy the words exactly as they appear in the text.
 After you fill in all the answers on a diagram, check that it
makes sense overall.

5: Where you have to write words, check spelling carefully
(the word(s) will always be in the text) and make sure you
do not write more than the maximum word limit for that
question type. Do not include unnecessary words.
6: The answers are usually grouped together in one specific
part of the text, where the diagram is described; usually in
supporting ideas of the paragraphs.
7: The answers are usually in one or two (body)
paragraph(s).
8: The questions usually begin at the top left of the diagram
and go round in a clockwise direction. It is therefore
essential to keep looking carefully at the diagram and the
parts that you need to label so that you do not get confused
about the order .

1. Work out which section of the reading the summary comes
from (in this example, the whole of the text is summarized
but in the real test you'll need to look through the reading to
find the right paragraphs).
2. Carefully read the sentence with the first gap and think
about what form will fit i.e. should it be an adjective, noun,
infinitive, present participle etc? And what type of word is
needed i.e. is it an amount, a change, an action?

3. You should have worked out that for questions 1 you are
looking for a noun because 'an' comes before it.
4. Then look at the words that are in the box - which ones
have the right form to fit and the right type? There are
several nouns.
5. Look at the correct part of the full reading that refers to
the reading gap fill section you are looking at and decide
what happened for the first time to do with air rage in the
1940s?
6. Read through the summary carefully to make sure you
understand it.
7. Use this information to help you choose the correct word
for the reading gap fill..

Approach
 1: This task requires you to use exact words and phrases from the
text. Do not try to use different words that have the same
meaning- your answer will be marked wrong even if the meaning
is correct.
 2: Look at how the flow chart is organised; arrows often indicate
results, stages or changes.
 3: Check for 'cause and effect' relationships.
 cause, effect, result, consequently, because, in
consequence, as a result, subsequently, for this reason,
because of, hence, in view of the fact, due to, consequently,
for this reason, in the view of, since, on account of, for the
sake of, thus, therefore, accordingly, by virtue of cause,
affect, end in, lead to, contribute, follow, make, produce,
encourage, provoke, result, conduce, spark, engender,
generate, create, originate, induce, trigger, impact,
influence, bring about

4 Look for the same number of points and identify the
relationship between them, e.g. linking words, like
Firstly indicates a sequence. Find the part of the text that
relates to the chart.
5: Read the instructions carefully. Notice how many
words you can use to answer each question. The
number of words may vary; you may be asked to write
one, two or three words in each question. The
instructions will also tell you if you need to use a
number for your answer.
6: This task often, but not always, focuses on one part or
section of the reading passage, rather than on pieces
of information spread throughout the text.
7: ANSWERS DO NOT ALWAYS COME IN ORDER.

Reading by task type

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