Why most students lose marks in Reading

Reading is not a vocabulary test. It tests whether you can find what the passage actually says, quickly, and not what you expect it to say. That is why the topics in this test are deliberately unfamiliar: in the real exam you cannot rely on what you already know.

The three mistakes I see most from Arab candidates:

1. Confusing FALSE with NOT GIVEN. FALSE means the passage says the opposite. NOT GIVEN means it says nothing about it.
2. Matching words instead of meaning. The right answer is almost always a paraphrase. The wrong options repeat the passage's words.
3. Spending 30 minutes on Passage 1. Passage 3 is the hardest and carries the same marks. Aim for about 17, 20 and 23 minutes.

نصيحتي: خذ الاختبار في ظروف حقيقية، 60 دقيقة بدون توقف وبدون قاموس. النتيجة التي تصلك ستخبرك بالضبط أي نوع من الأسئلة يُضيّع عليك الباند.