Tips Part 5- Multiple Choice- Reading and Use of English

Part 5 is a long text with 6 multiple-choice comprehension questions. You have to show that you can understand what writers want to say.

It might take you some time to do this part of the exam, but students who practice a lot can do it faster.

General Tips

• The answers are the same order as the questions – so the answer to question 1 is near the beginning of the article, and answer 2 ALWAYS comes after answer 1. Sometimes question 6 is about the whole text.

• Try your best to read what it SAYS in the text and don’t bring your own opinion into the topic. Example – if I read a text about teaching English then I read it very quickly because I’m already an ‘expert’ in the topic. Sometimes the answers match what you think about a topic, but sometimes they don’t. Be careful!
• Read as much English as you can. Read Harry Potter. Read The Economist. You will notice a big difference in how easy this task is after a few months of reading.
• Read the QUESTIONS as carefully as the text itself.

Advanced Tips

* Read the text BEFORE the questions. This is the most efficient way to do it. Don’t argue with me. Just do it.

* Be careful of TRAPS! If a word in an answer is also in the text, it’s probably NOT the answer.

Example:

Once upon a time there was a handsome Englishman and many women around the world fell in love with him because he was so kind and generous.

01. Why did women love the Englishman?

A   Because he was English.

B   Because he was handsome.

C   Because they were kind and generous.

So what’s the answer? None of them! It’s certainly not C because ‘they’ means the women. The answer is, of course,

D   Because he was kind and generous.

* Another trap is when more than one answer is mentioned in the text.

Once upon a time there was a handsome Englishman and many women around the world fell in love with him because he was so tall, kind and generous, but most of all because he had a great collection of Pokemon.

02. What is the main reason the women loved the Englishman?

A   Because he was tall.

B   Because he was kind.

C   Because he was generous.

D   Because of his Pokemon collection.

As you can see, all 4 options are mentioned in the text. However, the question says ‘what is the MAIN reason’, and that links to ‘most of all’ in the text. So the answer is…. have you got it yet?… D again.