At Level 1 your job in the Reading test is simple to describe. Find the right place in the text. Read those two or three lines properly. Write the answer in exactly the form the question asks for. This unit trains those three steps on five question types: short-answer questions, sentence completion, note and table completion, True/False/Not Given, and matching statements to notices. Notices and other short everyday texts belong to General Training Reading; the two factual passages (the emperor penguin and the bananas) are closer to Academic Reading and to the last section of General Training. The three steps are the same in both tests. The texts in the lessons are short practice extracts, chosen so that you can study one technique at a time, and even the passage in the exam practice at the end of the unit is about half the length of a real one. The texts grow as you move up the levels: Level 2 ends with passages of about 600 words, Levels 3 and 4 end with full-length passages, and the ten complete tests are in the Practice Tests book. A real Academic passage, like the long text in General Training Section 3, is about 700–950 words.
Exam Trap
Three habits cost Indian candidates more marks than weak English does. The first is reading the whole text slowly from the first word, translating as you go, and running out of time. The second is answering from general knowledge (‘everybody knows bananas grow on trees’) and not from the text. The third is carelessness with the answer itself: a plural s left off, a word spelt differently from the text, three words written where the limit is two.
Lesson 1: Find it before you read it Both versions
You read in two different ways in this test. Skimming means running your eyes over a text to see what it is about and where each topic is. Read the title, the headings and the first line of each paragraph. Scanning means looking for one particular thing, such as a name, a number or a word, without reading the sentences around it.
Scanning works only if you know what you are looking for. So read the question first, and decide what kind of answer it needs. ‘When …?’ needs a day, a date or a time. ‘How much …?’ needs a price. ‘Where …?’ needs a place. Numbers, capital letters and the £ sign stand out in any text, so they are the easiest things to find. On test day the text and the questions are on a computer screen: you type or select your answers, and you can highlight words and make notes on screen.
Rule
The order is always the same: question first, then scan for the place, then read that place slowly. Slow, careful reading is for two or three lines at a time and never for the whole text.
Exercise 1 What kind of answer?
Do not look at the text in Lesson 2 yet. Read these six questions about a farm park and decide what kind of answer each one needs. Write A, B, C or D. You will use some letters more than once.
Kinds of answer
- a clock time
- a length of time
- a place
- a thing
- 1 Where must coaches be left?
- 2 What do visitors need to buy before going on the tractor ride?
- 3 When does the last tractor ride leave?
- 4 What are visitors not allowed to use anywhere in the park?
- 5 What must dogs be kept on?
- 6 How long is the walk from the nearest station?
Lesson 2: Short-answer questions Both versions
What they test
Can you find a fact and copy it accurately? You answer a normal question (Where …? How many …?) with a word or a few words taken from the text. You never write a sentence and you never change the words.
Method
- Read the instruction and check the word limit. ‘NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER’ means up to three words, or a number, or both. A fourth word makes the answer wrong.
- Pick out the question word and one or two key words in the question. On screen you can highlight them.
- Scan for the key words, or for words with the same meaning. The questions follow the order of the text, so the answer to Question 2 comes after the answer to Question 1.
- Read the sentence you have found, and the one after it. Copy the answer exactly as it is spelt in the text.
Greenacre Farm Park: information for visitors
The ticket office is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. Visitors who have booked online do not need to queue. They should show their booking at the gift shop next to the main gate.
Parking is free for cars. Coaches cost £4 and must be left in the overflow car park.
The tractor ride takes tokens, not coins. Tokens are sold at the ticket office for £2 each. The last ride leaves at 3.30 p.m.
Picnic tables are provided beside the lake. Barbecues are not allowed anywhere in the park. Dogs may not enter the animal barns, and in all other areas they must be kept on a lead.
The nearest railway station is Elmstead. It takes fifteen minutes to walk from there along the river path.
Worked example
Question: Where should visitors who have booked online show their booking? (NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER)
The question word is Where, so you want a place. The key words are booked online. Scan: they are in the first paragraph. Now read slowly. Three places are named there: the ticket office, the gift shop and the main gate. The ticket office is wrong, because these visitors ‘do not need to queue’ there. The main gate is wrong too: it only tells you where the gift shop is. The answer is gift shop. ‘The gift shop’ is also fine. ‘The gift shop next to the main gate’ has eight words and scores nothing.
Question: How much does it cost to park a coach?
You want a price, so scan for £. There are two: £4 and £2. The word ‘free’ is also about cost. Read the lines: free is for cars, £2 is for a token. The answer is £4.
FLC Tip
The first place you find is often the wrong one. Test writers put two or three possible answers close together, so read to the end of the sentence before you write.
Exercise 2 Short answers: Greenacre Farm Park
Now go back to the six questions in Exercise 1 and answer them from the Greenacre text. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer. Try to finish in four minutes.
Lesson 3: Sentence completion Both versions
What it tests
This is the same skill as Lesson 2 with one thing added. The question is a sentence with a gap, and the sentence does not use the same words as the text. It says the same thing in a different way. This is called paraphrase. The word you write in the gap, however, always comes from the text unchanged.
Method
- Check the word limit.
- Read the sentence and look at the words on each side of the gap. What kind of word is missing: a noun, a number, a plural? After a or an you need a singular noun. After many or two you need a plural.
- Find the part of the text with the same meaning. Expect different words: ‘goes without food’ in the question may be ‘eats nothing’ in the text.
- Copy the word, then read your completed sentence. It must be good grammar and mean the same as the text.
Practice extract: The emperor penguin
The emperor penguin is the largest of all penguins. An adult stands over one metre tall and can weigh as much as 40 kilograms. Unlike most birds, it breeds during the Antarctic winter, when the temperature can fall below –40 °C.
The female lays a single egg and then returns to the sea to feed. The male stays behind. He balances the egg on his feet and covers it with a fold of warm skin. For about two months, while he waits for the egg to hatch, he eats nothing at all. To keep warm, thousands of males stand close together in a tight group. The birds take turns to stand in the middle, where it is warmest. When the chick comes out of the egg, the female returns with food for it, and the male can at last walk back to the sea.
Worked example
Question: The male penguin holds the egg on top of his . (ONE WORD ONLY)
After ‘his’ you need a noun, and it will be a part of the body. Scan for egg and male. The line is: ‘He balances the egg on his feet and covers it with a fold of warm skin.’ Two nouns are possible, feet and skin. The question says ‘on top of’, which matches ‘balances … on’. The skin goes over the egg, not under it. The answer is feet. Copy it as it is. Do not ‘correct’ it to foot or foots.
Question: Emperor penguins have their young in the coldest season, the .
‘Have their young’ is a paraphrase of ‘breeds’. The text says ‘during the Antarctic winter’. Only one word is allowed, and the word that names a season is winter.
Exam Trap
A word that is spelt wrongly is marked wrong, even when the examiner can see what you meant. Check it letter by letter. Take special care with a final s: if the text says ‘months’ and you write ‘month’, you lose the mark.
Exercise 3 Sentence completion: the emperor penguin
Complete the sentences. Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.
- 1 A fully grown emperor penguin may weigh up to kilograms.
- 2 Once she has laid her egg, the female goes to the to find food.
- 3 The male keeps the egg warm under a fold of .
- 4 The male goes without food for around two .
- 5 The best place for a male to keep warm is the of the group.
Lesson 4: Note and table completion Both versions
What they test
Here the information from a text has been put into short notes or a table, with some words missing. Notes are not full sentences, so the grammar gives you less help than in Lesson 3. The layout gives you more.
Method
- Check the word limit.
- Read the title and the headings. In a table, read the top row and the first column: they tell you what each box must contain. A gap in a column headed ‘Cost per hour’ can only be a price.
- Look at what is printed next to the gap. If ‘£’ or ‘p.m.’ is already there, do not write it again.
- Scan the text for the row or heading you need, and read that part slowly. In a table, the gaps may not follow the order of the text.
Lakeside Boat Hire
We are open every day from April to September, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The last boats go out at 5 p.m.
Rowing boats carry up to four people and cost £12 an hour. Pedal boats are popular with families. They take up to five people and cost £15 an hour. Our electric motor boats carry up to six people and cost £28 an hour. The driver must be at least 18 years old.
We ask for a deposit of £20 for every boat. You get it back when you return the boat. Life jackets are provided free of charge, and children under 12 must wear one at all times. Dogs are allowed in rowing boats only. When the weather is bad the lake may be closed, so please telephone before you travel.
Worked example
Note: Open: April to (ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER)
‘April to …’ needs another month. Scan for April: ‘from April to September’. Write September, with a capital letter.
Note: Motor boat: driver’s minimum age
‘Minimum age’ needs a number. The motor boat sentences contain three numbers: six, £28 and 18. Six is the number of people and £28 is the cost. ‘At least 18 years old’ is a paraphrase of ‘minimum age’. Write 18. The text has another age, ‘children under 12’, but that line is about life jackets. A number is correct only if it belongs to the right thing.
Exercise 4 Table and notes: Lakeside Boat Hire
Complete the table and the notes. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.
| Type of boat | Maximum number of people | Cost per hour | Other information |
|---|
| Rowing boat | 4 | £12 | the only boats that 1 can go in |
| Pedal boat | 2 | £15 | liked by 3 |
| Motor boat | 6 | £4 | driver’s minimum age: 18 |
Before you come
- final boats of the day leave at 5 p.m.
- deposit: £20 (given back afterwards)
- call first, as the lake sometimes shuts because of the 6
Lesson 5: True / False / Not Given Both versions
What it tests
You are given statements and you compare each one with the text. Most mistakes come from one confusion: the difference between FALSE and NOT GIVEN. The three tests below remove it.
| Answer | The test |
|---|
| TRUE | The text says the same thing, usually in other words. You can point to the line. |
| FALSE | The text says something that cannot be true at the same time as the statement. You can point to the line here too. |
| NOT GIVEN | The text talks about the topic but does not tell you whether the statement is right or wrong. There is no line to point to. |
Method
- Read the statement and pick out the part that could be checked: a number, a time, a comparison, a word like all, only, most or still.
- Scan for the topic of the statement. The statements follow the order of the text.
- Read that part slowly and ask: ‘Does the text say this? Does the text say the opposite? Or does it say nothing about this point?’
- If you have looked in the right place and cannot find it, choose NOT GIVEN and move on. Do not search the whole text again.
Marsh Lane Cheese Shop
Marsh Lane Cheese Shop opened in 2009 with a staff of only three. Today it employs more than twenty people and is open every day except Monday. Most of what it sells is cheese, but about a quarter of its sales are butter and yoghurt.
The shop opens at 9 a.m. It closes at 4 p.m. in winter and an hour later in summer. Customers can also order online, although there is a charge of £3 for delivery.
The best-known cheese is the ‘Marsh blue’, made from a recipe by the founder, Rosa Bianchi. She started the business with her brother, who has since left to open a restaurant in the town centre. On the first Sunday of each month, the shop runs a cheese-making class for beginners.
Worked example
Statement 1: The shop has more staff now than when it opened.
Scan for staff. ‘A staff of only three’ in 2009; ‘more than twenty people’ today. The words are different but the meaning is the same. TRUE.
Statement 2: The shop is open seven days a week.
The text says ‘every day except Monday’. That is six days, so the text contradicts the statement. FALSE.
Statement 3: Most customers order their cheese online.
The text does mention ordering online, so the topic is there. But read what it says: customers ‘can also order online’. How many do? Most? A few? The text does not tell us. You may feel the answer is probably ‘no’. A feeling is not a line in the text. NOT GIVEN.
Exam Trap
FALSE does not mean ‘the text does not say this’. FALSE means ‘the text says something different’. If you cannot point to the words that contradict the statement, the answer is NOT GIVEN. And leave your own knowledge outside: a statement that is true in real life is still NOT GIVEN if the text is silent about it. On the computer test you normally choose TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN on screen. In this book, and wherever you write the answer yourself, write the full word, not T, F or YES.
Exercise 5 True, False or Not Given: Marsh Lane Cheese Shop
Do the following statements agree with the information in the Marsh Lane Cheese Shop text? Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN. For every TRUE and FALSE answer, note down the words in the text that prove it.
- 1 Cheese makes up more than half of what the shop sells.
- 2 In summer the shop shuts at 5 p.m.
- 3 Online orders are brought to customers’ homes at no extra cost.
- 4 Rosa Bianchi learned to make cheese from her mother.
- 5 Rosa Bianchi’s brother still works at the shop.
- 6 The restaurant in the town centre buys its cheese from the shop.
- 7 Cheese-making classes take place once a month.
Lesson 6 · Matching notices General Training only
What it tests
You see several short notices or advertisements, labelled A, B, C and so on, and a list of statements. For each statement you choose the notice it is true for. This task is very common in Section 1 of General Training Reading. Academic Reading has no notices, but Academic candidates can use this lesson and Exercise 7 as scanning practice.
Method
- Skim the notices first: titles only, then one quick look at each. You only want to know what each notice is about.
- Take the statements one at a time. Pick out the key idea and think of other ways to say it. ‘Free’ may appear as ‘no charge’, ‘you do not have to pay’ or ‘at no cost’.
- Scan every notice for that idea. When you find it, check the other notices quickly: two notices often mention the same subject and only one matches the statement.
- Look for the line ‘NB You may use any letter more than once.’ If it is there, one notice can be the answer to two questions.
AThornby Castle by coach
Leaves the bus station at 9.30 a.m. and returns by 5 p.m. The price of £32 includes entry to the castle but not lunch. There are many steps inside the castle, so this tour is not suitable for wheelchair users.
BSeal Island boat trip
A two-hour trip to see the seals. Boats leave the harbour at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. if the sea is calm enough. £18 for adults, £9 for children. Bring a warm jacket, even in summer. Hot drinks are sold on board.
COld Town walk
A guided walk with a local historian. Meet at the clock tower at 10 a.m. or 6 p.m. The walk lasts 90 minutes and there is no charge, but please book, as each group has a maximum of 15 people. The route is flat all the way.
Worked example
Statement: You can do this in the evening.
‘Evening’ will not be in the notices; a time will. Scan the times. A: 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. B: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. C: 10 a.m. or 6 p.m. Coach A comes back by 5 p.m., which is late afternoon. Only C starts in the evening. The answer is C.
Statement: You can buy something to drink during the trip.
Scan for food and drink. A mentions lunch, but only to say it is not included. B says ‘Hot drinks are sold on board’. ‘On board’ means on the boat, which is ‘during the trip’. The answer is B.
Exercise 6 Which trip?
Look at the three notices, A–C. For which trip are the following statements true? Write the correct letter, A, B or C. You may use any letter more than once.
- 1 This trip does not go ahead in some weather conditions.
- 2 This trip takes up most of the day.
- 3 You do not have to pay anything.
- 4 Some disabled people will not be able to go on this trip.
- 5 You are told what clothing to take.
- 6 Only a small number of people can take part at one time.
Exam practice Both versions
Now use the methods under exam conditions. Time yourself: 13 minutes for Practice A and 15 minutes for Practice B. Do not use a dictionary. Afterwards, for every wrong answer, find out which step of the method you missed.
Exercise 7 Practice A: notices (General Training Section 1 style) General Training only
Read the five notices from a sports-centre notice board and answer Questions 1–12.
Westbrook Sports Centre: notice board
ACourt bookings: new rules
From 1 May, badminton and squash courts can be booked up to seven days in advance, not fourteen as at present. Members may book online or at reception. Non-members must telephone. If you cannot come, please cancel at least 24 hours before your booking. Members who miss two bookings in one month without cancelling will not be able to book in advance during the following month.
BLost property
Items left in the changing rooms are taken to reception at the end of each day. We keep them for four weeks. After that, clothing is given to a local charity shop. Valuable items such as phones, watches and wallets are locked in the manager’s office. You will be asked to describe the item and show photo ID before it is returned to you.
CSummer sports camp
Our camp for children aged 8 to 13 runs from Monday 27 July to Friday 7 August, from 9 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. Each day includes three different sports, from basketball to climbing. The cost is £24 a day or £100 for a full week of five days. Children should bring a packed lunch and a water bottle. Trainers with clean soles that do not mark the floor are essential. Book at reception by 10 July.
DCar park repairs
The main car park will be closed for repairs from 6 to 17 April. During this time, please use the car park at Westbrook Primary School on Mill Lane, a five-minute walk from the centre. It is available to our customers after 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. Before 4 p.m. on weekdays, the only parking is on nearby streets, where there is a two-hour limit. The cycle racks by the entrance are not affected.
EBeginners’ running group
New to running? Our group meets outside the main entrance every Tuesday and Thursday at 6.30 p.m. and is led by a qualified coach, Dan Ferris. Over nine weeks you will build up from one minute of running at a time to a full five kilometres. Sessions are free for members and £3 each for non-members. There is no need to book. Just come along in comfortable clothes. Anyone under 16 must come with an adult.
Questions 1–5
Look at the five notices, A–E.
For which notice are the following statements true?
Write the correct letter, A–E.
- 1 You will need to prove who you are.
- 2 People who do not belong to the centre are charged a fee.
- 3 There is a penalty for people who fail to turn up.
- 4 The arrangements are different at weekends.
- 5 You are told what kind of shoes are needed.
Questions 6–8
Answer the questions below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the notices for each answer.
- 6 From 1 May, how many days ahead can a court be booked?
- 7 Where are expensive lost items kept?
- 8 How long does the beginners’ running programme last?
Questions 9–12
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the notices?
Write
| TRUE | if the statement agrees with the information |
|---|
| FALSE | if the statement contradicts the information |
|---|
| NOT GIVEN | if there is no information on this |
|---|
- 9 Non-members can book a court on the centre’s website.
- 10 A full week at the summer camp is cheaper than paying for five separate days.
- 11 Customers of the centre may park at the primary school on a Saturday morning.
- 12 Dan Ferris is one of the coaches at the summer sports camp.
Exercise 8 Practice B: a factual passage (Academic passage style; also like General Training Section 3) Both versions
Read the passage and answer Questions 13–24.
How bananas travel the world
The banana is one of the most popular fruits on Earth, yet it grows only in warm, wet parts of the world. India grows more bananas than any other country, but almost all of them are eaten at home. The bananas sold in European and North American shops come mostly from Latin America, and Ecuador exports more than any other country.
A banana plant looks like a tree, but it is really a giant herb. Its ‘trunk’ contains no wood. It is made of leaves wrapped tightly around each other. After nine months or more, the plant produces a single bunch of fruit, which can weigh over 30 kilograms. Farm workers often cover each bunch with a plastic bag to protect it from insects. A plant gives fruit only once. After the harvest it is cut down, and a new shoot grows from its base.
Bananas for export are picked while they are still green and hard. If they were picked yellow, they would be rotten long before they reached the shops. Workers cut down the bunch and carry it to a packing station. There it is divided into smaller groups called ‘hands’, and these are washed in large tanks of water. Washing removes a sticky liquid that comes out of the cut stems and leaves dark marks on the skin. The fruit is then packed in cardboard boxes, each holding about 18 kilograms.
The boxes travel by lorry to a port and are loaded onto refrigerated ships. During the voyage, which can take two weeks or more, the temperature is kept at about 13 °C. This is cool enough to stop the fruit ripening. It must not be much colder, however, or the skins turn grey.
When the ship arrives, the bananas are still green. They are taken to special ripening rooms, which are slightly warmer and tightly closed. A small amount of ethylene, a gas that fruit produces naturally, is let into the room. This tells the bananas to start ripening, and over the next four to eight days they slowly turn yellow. Only then are they delivered to shops.
Nearly all the bananas sold from one country to another belong to a single variety, the Cavendish. Until the 1950s the main export banana was the Gros Michel, which is said to have tasted better. Then Panama disease, which lives in the soil, destroyed farms across Latin America. Growers changed to the Cavendish because the disease did not harm it. Today a new form of the disease attacks the Cavendish too. Cavendish plants are grown from shoots, not seeds, so they are almost identical to one another, and what kills one plant can kill them all. Scientists are now trying to develop a banana that the disease cannot harm.
Questions 13–17
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
Write
| TRUE | if the statement agrees with the information |
|---|
| FALSE | if the statement contradicts the information |
|---|
| NOT GIVEN | if there is no information on this |
|---|
- 13 India produces more bananas than Ecuador does.
- 14 Banana farms in Ecuador are larger than those in India.
- 15 Farmers can harvest fruit from the same banana plant year after year.
- 16 The Cavendish became the main export banana because of a plant disease.
- 17 Cavendish plants differ greatly from one another.
Questions 18–20
Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
- 18 Although it looks like a tree, the banana plant is in fact a very large .
- 19 Bags made of plastic keep away from the growing fruit.
- 20 Panama disease is found in the where bananas are grown.
Questions 21–24
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
From farm to shop
At the packing station
- bunches are separated into ‘hands’
- hands are cleaned in big 21 of water to get rid of a sticky liquid
- fruit goes into boxes made of 22
At sea
- temperature on board: roughly 23 °C
- if it is too cold, banana skins go 24
After arrival
- a natural gas makes the fruit ripen in four to eight days
Before you move on
Check your scores for Exercises 7 and 8 together. With 19 or more correct out of 24 you are ready for the Level 2 Reading unit. With fewer, find the question type that cost you most and work through its lesson again.
Key Language
Notices use a small set of phrases again and again, and the questions paraphrase them. Learn these pairs: free of charge / no charge = you do not pay; in advance = before the day; at least 18 = 18 or older; up to six = six or fewer; not suitable for = not right for; essential = you must have it; provided = given to you; not affected = no change; except Monday = every day but not Monday.
Rule
Your checklist for every Reading answer at this level:
- Can I point to the line that gives my answer?
- Is my answer inside the word limit?
- Is every word spelt exactly as in the text, with its final s if it has one?
- For TRUE and FALSE, have I found the words that prove it? If I cannot find any, have I written NOT GIVEN?
- Have I answered every question? There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so never leave a blank.
