The reading example provided here looks at how the synonyms help us to find the answers and all of them are highlighted in the question and the text in the Answers section. However, as a little test, can you identify the matching pairs of words here for the first and second sets of questions? If you can, this might give you a head start when you try the reading test.
Questions 1-9 Synonyms
earning money
use
legends
rights
expertise
exchange
social occupation
low cost
in return for
consumption
folklore
entitled to
income generation
minimal investment
recreational activity
intimate knowledge
Questions 10-13 Synonyms
all
open access
little
expertise
intimate knowledge
minimal
completely
common property
You can find the answers in the document attached at the end of the post.
Approach
The document attached provides a reading passage with two sets of questions: heading questions and multiple-choice. Here is the approach we suggest taking for this combination of questions. Download the document for the text and questions we refer to.
1. Paragraph heading questions, like the one here (Question 1-9), nearly always come as the first block of questions. If this happens, ignore them and move immediately to the next block of questions – in this case, the multiple-choice questions (Questions 10-13).
Why ignore the paragraph heading questions? This type of question requires you have to have a basic knowledge of what each paragraph contains but at the start you have no idea so you would need a lot of time to scan the paragraphs. Multiple-choice questions, however, require you to scan for specific information. Whilst you re doing this, you will gain a general idea of the topic of each paragraph. You could even underline/ circle repeated key words so that when you come back to the paragraph heading questions, you can see the main topic of each paragraph very quickly.
2. Read all of the multiple-choice questions and answers. Underline the key words as you read and make predictions about the answers you might expect and also the synonyms of the key words that you might find in the text.
Why read all the questions at once? There are several reasons for this:
- Reading all the questions will give you a general idea of the topic of the text, which might make you feel more confident when you move your eyes across to start scanning that long piece of writing.
- Sometimes, when you are looking for the answer to one question you might actually find the answer to another question but if you haven’t read that question, you don’t realise you have found it. This is particularly the case when answers do not appear in order in the text, which can sometimes happen.
- You need to be more familiar with and understand more fully the questions than you do the text. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t understood everything in the text but it does matter if you haven’t understood the question. Reading through the questions all together and then moving back to each one individually means you have at least two chances to read and understand the question.
Why underline the key words in the questions? There are a few reasons for this also:
- The reading test is partly a test of your vocabulary knowledge and in the majority of cases finding the answer in the text will mean identifying the synonyms of the key words in the questions. So, when you underline the key word it can help to start thinking and predicting the words you might find in the text so it can help you to scan and identify the answers more quickly.
- Underlining words on the paper and making that physical mark is scientifically proven to make you remember that word more – it is like you are writing that word onto the paper in your brain, meaning you are more likely to focus on it and remember it when you start looking for the answers in the text.
3. When you have read all the questions in that section and underlined the key words, move back to the first question in the section and read it again. Then move your eyes to the text and start looking for the answer.
4. When you think you have found the answer in the text, underline/ circle it.
Why underline the answer in the text? Usually the answers come in order in the text so when you have looked back at the next question you can go back to the text and start reading from the point where you found the previous answer. If you don’t circle/ underline it, you will have to start scanning again from the start of the text, wasting valuable seconds. Every second counts in this test.
5. When you have found an answer in the text, immediately write it onto your answer paper.
Why write the answer immediately on your answer paper? In the reading text you do not have extra time to transfer your answers like you do in the listening test so it is better to do it as you go along because otherwise you risk running out of time and having no answers on your answer paper. Also, it is easy to lose track of where you are on the answer paper and start filling in answers in the wrong place, making everything incorrect.
6. If you feel you are spending too much time on one question (you have 1.5 minutes per question), make a guess by writing something in the gap on your answer paper and move to the next.
Why make a guess? Even if you do not find an answer, you should write something in the space on the answer paper so that you do not get confused about which answer goes where – it is easy if you leave a space to find yourself having written the answers in the wrong spaces, making everything wrong. Also, in some cases (think of True, False, Not given), you have a 33.3% chance of getting the right answer so it is always worth putting something.
7. When you are scanning for the answers to the multiple-choice questions, put a circle/ underline any words you see repeated in the paragraphs or any key word you find summarises the topic of that paragraph. This will help you when you come back to the paragraph heading questions.
8. After completing the multiple-choice questions, move back to the heading questions. Read all the headings and underline the key words. Underlining the key words is again for the same reasons as mentioned before (step 2).
9. As you read the headings, try to recall the different paragraphs and you might be able to make a guess immediately. If you do, write the answer on your answer sheet and put a line through that heading in the list.
Why should you put a line through the heading in the list? This can save you wasting valuable time when you read the titles again. Every second is needed in this test and if that heading has already been used, you do not need to move your eyes over it again. Crossing it out stops you from focussing on it as an option.
10. If you then cannot match any more, you will have to move to the individual paragraphs and scan your eyes over them for the repeated key words (which you might have already identified) and any synonyms of the key words identified in the headings. Sometimes you can find two similar headings with the same key words you then you have to focus more on the exact message of the paragraph. This can take time and if you feel it is taking too much time, make a guess based on the key words only.
Reading: Paragraph Headings + Multiple-choice - Importance of Synonyms |