Tips and FAQS for the Reading paper of the Cambridge English: Advanced exam Here are some

tips and answers to !estions we often receive on the Reading paper of the Cambridge English: Advanced exam"Tips: #$ S%im thro!gh the text for general !nderstanding"Read the instr!ctions ver& caref!ll& the& set the scene and give &o! initial orientation"Highlight or !nderline important words in the !estions"#ecide what t&pe of !estion &o! are answering and then emplo& the correct reading s%ill' especiall& in the m!ltiple(choice part")in% the !estions to areas or sections in the text before reading closel&"Remember that !estions come in the same order as the answers in the text in the m!ltiple(choice part of the paper"Experiment with the order of the parts and the !estions within the parts" Come bac% to them later' if necessar&"Select &o!r answer based on meaning and then chec% that it fits with the lang!age in the text" *se the coherence and cohesion in the text to help &o! with this"*se a wide context in the text to help &o! find answers" #o not read narrowl& or +!st a few lines before and after the point where &o! find &o!r answer"*se paraphrasing of ideas rather than individ!al words in the !estions to help &o! identif& the answer in the text"Chec% that &o!r selected answer f!ll& answers the !estion and not onl& in part"Answer all the !estions no mar%s are ded!cted for incorrect answers"#ecide wh& the three distractors are wrong in each m!ltiple(choice !estion and ma%e s!re the extra paragraph does not fit" ,-art ./Reread the whole text when &o! have placed all the paragraphs" ,-art ./ #$0T #ont !se &o!r world %nowledge or personal opinions to answer the !estions"#on t select an answer after reading onl& one section in the m!ltiple(matching parts of the paper"#on t spend too m!ch time on an& one part of the paper"#ont forget to transfer all &o!r answers to the answer sheet"#on t be p!t off b& or get st!c% on diffic!lt vocab!lar& it ma& become clear b& reading on or b& later rereading"#on t reread ever& section for ever& !estion" ,-arts 1 and 2/ FAQs ,Fre !entl& As%ed Q!estions/ How man& mar%s is the Reading paper worth3Each of the five papers in the exam is worth 24 mar%s' or .45 of the total"See more details abo!t the format of the exam6hat %inds of texts are incl!ded3The fo!r texts are ta%en from newspapers' maga7ines' +o!rnals' non(literar& boo%s' leaflets' broch!res' etc" The& are generall& a!thentic b!t some editing ma& ta%e place for clarification" The& ma& be informational' descriptive' narrative or disc!rsive" Each text is 884984 words long with a total of abo!t :'444 words across the whole paper"6hat reading s%ills are involved3The tas%s test &o!r abilit& to s%im and scan the text in order to:b!ild !p a general !nderstandingidentif& the main pointslocate specific informationded!ce meaningrecognise the writer s attit!de or opinion!nderstand text organisation"6hat %inds of tas%s are there3There are two m!ltiple(choice tas%s' one gapped text and one m!ltiple( matching tas%"Are -arts 1 and 2 the same3;oth parts involve the same tas% t&pe' m!ltiple matching' b!t the text is !s!all& longer in -art 2"6hich is the most diffic!lt part3The combination of text' tas%s and reading s%ills in each of the parts is different so there is no simple answer to this !estion"-ast res!lts show that an& one of the fo!r parts can be better answered in a session" <o! need to be aware of &o!r strengths and wea%nesses' and prepare accordingl&"How long sho!ld = spend on each part of the test3There are no recommended timings for parts of the test" ;!t &o! m!st transfer all &o!r answers to the answer sheet d!ring the 1 ho!r and 18 min!tes of the test"The tas%s do not have to be dealt with in the same order as the& appear on the paper" <o! ma& feel more confident with certain text or tas% t&pes

and ma& want to do these first and faster"#oing some practice tests sho!ld help &o! with timing &o!r answers"