Aptis for Teachers: Reading Test Part 4

Aptis for Teachers Reading Test Part 4: Long Text Comprehension

In both Aptis for Teachers and Aptis General, Part Four of the Reading Test is long text comprehension. You have to read a text of seven paragraphs and choose the best heading for each paragraph from a list of eight. To complete the task you must select the appropriate heading from a drop-down list.

In the official exam the texts are of about 750 words, but we’re keeping our practice tests to about 600/650. This is to make the task more mobile-friendly, as we know that about half our visitors are using mobiles. Either way, you have to scroll the reading text in order to see all of it. However, we recommend doing this part on computer if possible, as it’s easier to see the text as a whole.

Preparation

As we’re always saying, the best way to prepare in general is to read as much as you can, and as many different texts as you can. This will help you with your English in every way. We’ve already given you some ideas in Top Tips to Help you Pass the Aptis Reading Test. Another good source is the BBC’s 6-Minute English, which deals with a different topic each time. It’s a listening exercise, but you can also download the scripts to read.

Interesting reading materials for teachers

In Part 3 you read about the boat-schools in Bangladesh, and we promised to make some more recommendations for you. You’ll find some interesting articles on the Guardian Education website. The New York Times also has an education section. These are written for native speakers, but they’re worth a look. When you read this type of material, don’t stop every time you see an unknown word or phrase. Try to work it out from the context and the global meaning of the text instead. Obviously, you’ll need a dictionary at times, and it’s a good idea to note down useful new vocabulary. But if you stop every few minutes to look things up, you’ll soon lose interest.

Another very interesting article for any teacher is this one about different learning styles. It’s written in a clear style and deals with the four main styles of learning: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic and tactile. 

How to approach the long text comprehension task

Quickly read each paragraph to get a general idea of what the text is about. This type of reading is called skimming.

Then look at the headings and read the paragraphs again, more slowly this time, with the headings in mind.

Be careful – sometimes the paragraphs contain the same words as one of the headings, but that doesn’t always mean it’s the correct answer.

Read everything again once you’ve finished. You can always go back and change your answers.

Even if you’re not sure about the answer, never leave anything blank.

Reading Practice Test Part 4:  Long text Comprehension

We advise you to do our practice tests in exam conditions so that you get used to reading under pressure. This means keeping an eye on the time. We recommend you to spend no longer than 13 or 14 minutes on this part.

No examples are done for you in this part of the test. Press ‘Check’ when you’ve finished. If you’ve made a mistake, press ‘Retry‘.  If you still haven’t got it right, you can look at the solution.