TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR READING COMPREHENSION

 

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR READING COMPREHENSION

Reading is fun, relaxing, and helps you increase your knowledge and boost your vocabulary, writing, and grammar.

TURN THE READING INTO A RITUAL:

1.       Make it a habit.

2.       Make time for your reading.

3.       Read daily.

4.       Look for a quiet place to read.

5.       Avoid distractions at all costs.

 TIME TO READ:

1.       Choose reading material in line with your interest (don´t waste your time reading something you find boring) and according to your English level. If you don´t know it, you can find out here, click Macmillan Readers Level Test 

2.       Skimming technique: read to get a general idea about the text, don´t worry about what you don´t understand.

3.       Scanning technique: read to search for specific information.

4.       Once you have read, go back and look up the words you don´t understand.

 WHAT TO READ: here are some useful links

    Graded readers:    english-e-reader.net and esl-bits.net

    News in levels:     newsinlevels, enewsdispatch. and breakingnewsenglish.

   Spanish newspapers English edition: spainenglish and english.elpais.com

   Newspapers: the guardian, theconversation., and bbc news

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APTIS GENERAL READING PART 1,2 3 AND 4

Below you will find links to reading practice materials to help you succeed.

Part 1 Sentence comprehension
Choose words to complete sentences
 3-option multiple choice.
Exercises: 1 2  3  4  5  6  7  8

Part 2 Text cohesion
Put sentences into correct order to make a story
7 sentences jumbled up.
Exercises:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15

Part 3 Short test comprehension
Choose the best word from a list to make a sentence
10 options and 7 empty spaces.
Exercises: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7

Part 4 long text comprehension
Match headings to paragraphs
7 paragraphs and 8 headings.
Exercises: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7

APTIS GENERAL READING MATCHING HEADINGS: HOW TO DO IT AND EXERCISES

First, skim (quickly read) through the text quickly without looking at the headings and find out what the general idea of the text is.

Second,  reread the text, but not the headings, paying more attention and try to find the primary purpose in each paragraph.

Third, look at your ideas and see if they match any of the headings.

Then, match the ones you are sure about and leave the most difficult for the end.

Finally, match the leftover headings by the process of elimination.

Now, it´s time to practice:

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2

EXERCISE 3

EXERCISE 4

EXERCISE 5

EXERCISE 6

EXERCISE 7

EXERCISE 8

EXERCISE 9

EXERCISE 10

EXERCISE 11

EXERCISE 12

READING: A2 / B1 / B2 AND C1

Are you sitting a test in a near future? Do you need to improve your reading skills?
Here you will find an excellent link to do it, choose your level: elementary, pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper-intermediate and advanced. Then, click on the link with the exercise you want to do it.
Here there is the link: Reading exercises 

FIRST / B2: READING AND USE OF ENGLISH PART 7

1.  TASK INFORMATION:

a)    In part 7 there may be one long text divided into four to six sections or four to six separate shorter texts. The total length will be 500-600 words.

b)   There are 10 questions which you match with the sections or short texts (A, B, C, etc) according to the questions at the top, e.g. Which person ….

c)    Part 7 tests your ability to locate which section of text contains details, opinions and attitudes expressed in the questions. You need to be able to distinguish the correct section from other sections which may contain information or opinions which appear similar.

d)   The instructions tell you what kind of text it is and what it’s about. It always has a title.

e)   The information you need may not be in the same order as the questions.

f)    There may be evidence for a particular answer in more than one sentence or part of a sentence.

g)   You will need to use the same option for more than one question.

2.  ACTION PLAN:

a)    Read the instructions and the title to find out what kind of text it is and the topic.

b)   In this reading task, the questions are printed before the text, you should therefore take time to familiarize themselves with the questions and underline the key words before you approach the text.

c)    If you do this, you will know what information you have to find and will recognize it more quickly when you start reading. If you are familiar with the ten questions, you may only need to read each section once to find the answers.

d)   When you find the information that seems to answer a question, read the question again and study the evidence in the text carefully.

    USEFUL LINKS
          task 1
          task 2

FIRST / B2: READING AND USE OF ENGLISH PART 6

1.  TASK INFORMATION:

a)    In part 6 there is a text of 500-600 words with six gaps. Each gap is for a missing sentence. These sentences are in a list (A-G), but in the wrong order. You have to put the sentences into the correct gaps.

b)   The sentences are listed after the text.

c)    There is also a sentence that does not fit anywhere.

d)   You can use each sentence A-G once only.

e)   Part 6 tests your understanding of the overall structure of the text, and the development of ideas, opinions and events.

f)    The instructions tell you what kind of text it is and what it is about.

g)   The text has a title, and often some background information below it.

2.  ACTION PLAN:

a)    Read the instruction, the title and any background information. What kind of text is it? What’s the topic?

b)   Quickly read through the main text. What is each paragraph about? By making notes next to each paragraph, you are seeing how the text is organized and structured.

c)    Read the sentences A-G carefully one by one. Do any of them obviously fit particular gaps?

d)   For each gap 37-42, study the ideas and words that come before and after it.

e)   Look for similar or contrasting ideas in the list of sentences.

f)    In both the main text and the sentences A-G, underline vocabulary links, reference words such as this or her, and linking expressions.

g)   When you have chosen your answers, read the complete text. Does it make sense?

h)   In conclusion, by following this process: reading the text carefully once; dealt with the sentences one by one and seen that each of them can only fill one possible gap and avoided reading back and forth between multiple missing sentences and gaps; you are using the quickest and most effective approach to this task.

USEFUL LINKS:
task 1

task 2

FIRST / B2: READING AND USE OF ENGLISH PART 5

1.  TASK INFORMATION:

a)    In part 5 there is a test of 550-650 words followed by six questions with four options: A, B, C or D. The answers occur in the text in the same order as the questions.

b)   This part tests your ability to understand overall meaning, main ideas or details, as well as attitudes or opinions.

c)    You may need to infer meaning (use clues to understand things that aren’t actually said).

d)   The first line can be a question or an unfinished statement.

2.  ACTION PLAN

a)    Read the instructions and the title, if there is one. What kind of text (e.g. magazine article) is it?

b)   Quickly read the text without trying to answer any of the questions. What is it about? By skimming (which is reading quickly or superficially to get a general idea of the content and structure of a passage without trying to understand it in detail or deal with difficult vocabulary or concepts) you will be able to locate the answers more quickly when you come to the multiple-choice questions.

c)    Look at the stem of the first question, underlining the key words.

d)   Find the relevant part of the text. Draw a vertical line to it and write down the question number.

e)   Read what the text says about the question, underlining the words which answer the question and try to answer it in your own words.

f)    Look at options, A,B, C and D. Choose the answer which corresponds with the words you have underlined.

g)   If you really aren´t sure, cross out any options that you think are wrong and then make a guess.

h)   In conclusion, the best way to deal with multiple-choice questions is to: underline the key idea in the question, but not at this stage read the options A-D; locate where the question is deal with in the text and read that section carefully, underlining the words which answer the question and then look at the options and choose the answer which corresponds with the words you have underlined.

USEFUL LINKS:
task 1
task 2

FIRST / B2: READING AND USE OF ENGLISH PART 2

1.  TASK INFORMATION:

a)    In part 2 there is a text of 150-160 words with eight gaps where words have been removed. You write one word in each gap and your spelling must be correct. You are given an example (0).

b)   The open cloze tests your knowledge of language structures and your understanding of the text. The words you need will either be grammatical words such as articles, prepositions, modal verbs, auxiliary verbs , pronouns, quantifiers, or lexico-grammatical words, such as linking words, parts of phrasal verbs and fixed phrases.

2.  ACTION PLAN

a)    Look at the title and the example.

b)   Without trying to fill in any answers, quickly read the text to see what it’s about.

c)    For each gap, look at the context and decide what kind of word is needed ( an article, pronoun, preposition, etc )

d)   Study the words either side of the gap for more clues.

e)   Think of words that might fit and try each one.

f)    When you have filled in the gaps, read your text to check it makes sense.

Useful links:
      task 1
      task 2
      

FIRST / B2: READING AND USE OF ENGLISH PART 1

1.  TASK INFORMATION:

a)    In part 1, you read a text of 150-160 words with eight gaps and one example (0). You choose from words A, B, C or D to fill in each gap in a text. Options A, B, C and D are always the same kind of word (e.g. verbs).

b)   Part 1 mainly tests vocabulary, particularly choosing the correct option for a context from a group of words with similar meanings. Still, you may also need to understand grammatical links between words, or the text as a whole.

c)    Words that often go together, called collocations, are frequently tested and so are words followed by a preposition, set phrases or expressions.

2.  ACTION PLAN:

a)    Look at the title and the example.

b)   Without filling in any gaps, quickly read the text to get an idea of what it’s about.

c)    For each gap, decide what kind of word (e.g. nouns, adverbs) the four options are.

d)   Study the words on either side of the gap, underlining any possible collocations.

e)   Try each answer in the gap, checking whether it fits grammatically.

f)    Check that the word you choose fits the overall meaning of the sentence.

g)   Read through the completed sentence, checking that everything makes sense.

Useful links:
TASK 1
TASK 2

MORE AUDIBOOKS

On listening to some words while reading, you can improve your diction and you can understand English better.

Here you have more links to classic audio books:

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audio-books.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audio-books/2.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audio-books/3.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audio-books/4.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audio-books/5.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audio-books/6.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audio-books/7.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audio-books/8.html

LET´S READ PART 2: AUDIOBOOKS

If you need to imrpove your listening skills, you can try listening without the book in order to understand or gist the general idea of the page or the chapter. I'm pretty sure that listening to an audiobook and following through a real book can help improve your English language.

Here you have more links to audiobooks:

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audio-books-mp3.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audio-books-mp3-2.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audio-books-mp3-4.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audio-books-mp3-5.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audiobooks.html

https://agendaweb.org/listening/audiobooks-2.html

APTIS ADVANCED READING PART 4

Here you have two short texts on the same topic. You need to fill in the blank with the appropriate phrase.

You need to read both texts before answering as again all the options are grammatically possible so you can only choose the right one if you have read both texts.

Here you have some links:

 Exercise 1

 Exercise 2

 Exercise 3

APTIS ADVANCED READING PART 3

This is a short text of around 300 words with missing gaps. You must choose the right word or `phrase from the drop-down to complete the gap.

Make sure you read the whole text before trying to anwer. There isn´t a grammar test so all the options can fit grammatically into the sentence, you need to understand the whole text to choose the right one.

Here you have some useful links:Exercise 1.  Exercise 2.  Exercise 3. Exercise 4. Exercise 5

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR READING

READING
Here you have a post about sites to help you improve and practice your reading comprehension.
There is still room for improving your reading and One way of doing it is to catch up reading and watching videos on international news. Here you have some interesting links:

 1)  http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/english-you-need

 2)   http://www.bbc.com/
       
 3).  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

4).  Newsela.com : a good site to improve while reading current event articles. It has five         different levels of the same article so choose the best one for you. It’s compulsory to sign but it’s free.         

5) http://www.literacynet.org/cnnsf/archives.html: there are lots of tests on different topics. It’s for students with an advanced level of English.

6) British newspapers such as:TheGuardian,  Independent, The Telegraph, The Times,  Huffington Post