Episode 3: Reading in English proficiency tests...
As I write this article, I understand that I am too late and almost hitting deadline with handing it in to my director. Why one might be asking but everyone should know the answer to that. It is the lack of time.
Reading tests are quite hard to most test takers because the provided time is not enough to read, understand and answer (correctly of course) all the questions.
The nature of this section is very similar in both IELTS and CAEL. The texts are written on paper in a dens quantity and challenging quality. if you are comfortable with reading from a paper or you have issues with reading off a screen or bright medium, this could be your advantage.
You will be going through 2-3 reading materials. while reading you will answer questions based on the information in the article you have. The questions are a combination of short answer questions (1-3 words and in some cases numbers too), fill in blanks wither in a sentence or in table/chart.
However, when it comes to what is different between IELTS and CAEL reading tasks is in CAEL you still have to write neatly and accurately, however, the you don't have to answer the questions in full sentences as long as you provide the keywords of the answer. Having minor spelling mistakes can still be overlooked in CAEL as long as the words are clear and make sense. Because remember that in CAEL what matters is that you are able to find the information. BUT!! those questions are tricky in both CAEL and IELTS. So be careful and focus during the test.
In TOEFL iBT, however, the reading section is 3 readings from different topics, similar to IETLS. the first one, you have to read and answer it's questions within 20 mins, and the last 2 both at the same time within 40 mins. Time management is very important in the second section, and my advice to you is that you time your self as 20 min for each reading, and when the first 20 min of the 40 min passes go to the second part and start. you might get more marks rather than wasting time to get few questions done from the first part.
You will get the chance to read/view the article before seeing the questions. When you start with answering the questions, you program will bring the part from the reading that is related to questions, however, in some questions you will get the whole reading passage to look at. depending on the idea of the question. All the answers are multiple choice answers, so reading the answers carefully is also part of the reading test. Make sure what you are selecting is answering the question completely. I have asked many test takers, and myself too, about the feeling we have when selecting an answer, and we all agreed that we selected the correct answer but at in the end we scored low. This means that we think we answered correctly but we answered wrong.
I am not the one you are looking at for advice about how to improve your reading, but it happens that I know someone.
Valeeta Blancher-Bennett has an award winning how-to-read video that I will post here for you all to watch and enjoy.
By Ismail
http://www.biztv4u.com/llilesson02.html