This document provides an overview of the Reading Assessment test format and strategies for preparing. It discusses the two reading passages that will be presented, which total 700-900 words each on different topics. Sixteen comprehension questions will test understanding of explicit and implicit meanings across seven question types. When practicing, readers should read passages thoroughly before answering sequential questions, using topic sentences to help answer. The document reviews each question type and strategies for practicing to improve reading skills and prepare for the assessment.

1. The Reading Assessment:
Preparing and Practising

2. Overview of session
• Test format
• Strategies for approaching the whole paper
• Task types – how to approach each task and practice of an
example
• How to practise and prepare for the reading

3. The texts
• Two reading texts: 700 – 900 words each
• Two different topics
• One text is journalistic (Guardian, The Economist,
New Scientist, The Atlantic)
• One text is from a course book, academic
journal, book
• Texts are UNSEEN
• Texts or tasks are checked to ensure are
appropriate for B2 Level – comparative to FCE
• 16 questions
• 10 minutes reading time, 1 hour for the reading
questions (plus 45 minutes for the writing)

4. The questions
• 16 questions: 8 per text
• 7 task types across both texts
• Tasks aim to test understanding of whole text ->
sentence and word level; explicit meaning and
implied meaning
• 20 marks available for each text
• Questions are always sequential
• Paragraph references are given for questions
where appropriate (some later questions may
require you to focus on the overall message or
attitude of the writer)

6. Approaching the paper
• Read the text through before you look at the questions to get
an overall impression
• Use topic sentences to help orientate you to answers
• Decide which text you want to do first
• The questions are in sequential order, but you don’t need to
do the questions in order – do tasks where you are more
confident first
• Also, note the marks awarded for each question
• Don’t leave any questions blank. Guess!

7. Topic sentences
• Read the topic sentence of the following paragraphs – what
do you expect to be in the paragraph?
• 1. While the English language offers thousands of words to
describe emotions and expressions, many refer to the same
general feeling.
• 2. Research shows that other more complex emotions, such
as shame and pride, are expressed similarly by people of
different nations, whether they are congenitally blind or
sighted.

8. While the English language offers thousands of words to describe emotions and
expressions, many refer to the same general feeling. Much of our rich vocabulary
can be boiled down to just six basic mood states: fear, anger, disgust, joy, sadness,
and surprise. For each of these states there is a unique recognizable face. As
Darwin argued, there is substantive agreement in how these basic emotions are
expressed across diverse cultures - whether they live in Caracas, Kyoto, or Kansas,
people are consistent in the face they make for the same emotional scenario:
smiling on an unexpected meeting with a good friend, or wrinkling the nose on
coming across a decaying animal carcass. Even in the most isolated parts of Papua
New Guinea, away from the pervasive influence of television, people still match
photos of facial expressions to emotional situations in the same ways.

9. Research shows that other more complex emotions, such as shame and pride,
are expressed similarly by people of different nations, whether they are
congenitally blind or sighted. The full display of human shame includes tilting
the head forward and covering the face, shaking it from side to side with the
body slumped over, lowering the shoulders, and decreasing chest volume. The
posture may derive from the cringing and submissive stance adopted by the
losers of disputes throughout the animal kingdom, from salamanders to wolves.
Pride provokes the opposite posture: the head is tilted up, raising the chin; the
face smiles; and the arms are raised as the chest is expanded. Such a display
may have its roots in non-human primate expression of dominance. At the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games, for example, contestants from all over the World gave
similar displays of disappointment and pride on losing or winning competitions.

10. Activity
• Read the title, sub-heading , reference and topic sentences of
the text. What does it tell you about the organisation/
purpose of the text as a whole?

11. Task types
• What is being tested?
• Why is it being tested?
• What strategies can you use?
• How can you practise yourself?

12. Multiple choice
• What is being tested?
Understanding of main points
Understanding attitude
Understanding implied meaning
• Why is this being tested?
Important to be able to differentiate between main points and support
Important in critically evaluating texts to understand writer attitude
In academic texts, aimed at an educated readership, points are often
implied – for example:
According to research scientist Rachel Whitmer, a recent 9 year study
showed that people who are obese in middle age (BMI >30) are 74%
more likely to have dementia.

13. Short answer questions
• What is being tested?
Relationship between information in text (main point / support,
research approach / finding, cause / effect)
Identifying multiple reasons
Understanding writer attitude
Understanding implied meaning
• Why is this being tested?
Important to be able to identify relationships between
information in the text – academic texts can be dense and don’t
tend to ‘list’ effects / reasons – need to be able to identify
which information is important.
Reasons or attitude may not be explicitly stated

14. Summary cloze
• What is being tested?
Understanding of key information
Understanding of relationships between ideas and information
Ability to paraphrase
Understanding of key vocabulary / ability to infer meaning of less common words
• Why is this being tested?
Important to be able to identify which information is more important, and why it
has been prioritised
Need to read authentic, academic texts – some language will be unfamiliar
Ability to recognise and use paraphrase is essential in reading and writing
(important also to understand why a particular word has been used – what the
register, the affective meaning?
- Eg. What would be the effect of:
- describing a woman as a ‘spinster’?
- referring to protesters as ‘liberal lefties’?

15. Find the synonym
• What is being tested?
Ability to infer meaning from context
• Why is this being tested?
Much of the content of academic texts will be specific /
technical / low frequency lexis

16. Identify the acceptable
paraphrase
• What is being tested?
Ability to recognise plagiarism
Referencing accuracy
Ability to understand paraphrase
• Why is this being tested?
Plagiarism is a cornerstone of academic writing
In academic writing you must demonstrate understanding of
sources and use them appropriately

17. Identify the acceptable
paraphrase
• 4 options – acceptable paraphrase, incorrect citation, incorrect
citation, incorrect meaning, plagiarised.
• Two options have the same reason for being unacceptable
• Only one correct paraphrase
• Each option has only one possible answer (you don’t get an
incorrect meaning and an incorrect citation in the same
option)
• Can use process of elimination - identify the incorrect citation
first?
• Which one has obvious chunks lifted from the original? Note it
may be that the order of information is changed, but words
lifted, or order retained, but word form / odd word changed
• Make sure you understand the meaning of the given text

18. Identifying referencing
pronouns
• What is being tested?
Understanding of text organisation and cohesion
• Why is this being tested?
Academic texts can be dense, with a wide range of cohesive
devices employed to avoid repetition and connect ideas and
information. Writers refer back, forwards and outside the text
Being able to write a cohesive text is essential for good
academic writing. You must be able to understand a range of
patterns and devices to use them effectively.

19. Multiple matching
• What is being tested?
Tests your ability to scan a text for relevant information
Understanding of specific information
Understanding relationships within the text (may be causes /
effects, or people / opinion or research)
Identifying multiple attitudes
Understanding paraphrase
• Why is this being tested?
Crucial that you understand who to attribute to what
information or view in your reading
Useful way of identifying sources to follow up

20. How to practise and prepare
• Read! Remember the sources of the articles – The New Yorker,
The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, New Scientist,
Scientific American, The Guardian, The Atlantic
• Do additional reading practice and reflect on your
performance in the Exam Preparation Booklets
• The exam is B2 level, so other exam practice online is useful
and tests the same reading skills – www.flo-joe.com
• Make sure you are familiar with the Academic Word List;
check you have at least a passive understanding:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/alzsh3/acvocab/index.htm
• Do Academic Word List exercises:
http://www.englishvocabularyexercises.com/AWL/id17.htm