Paper 1 - Reading

• Paper 1 evaluates the reading and comprehension of students. There are 5 parts with a total of 40 questions in multiple-choice objectives, multiple form objectives and limited response.
• Part 1 - Short texts from books or magazines followed by 8 MCQs
• Part 2 - Test on grammar and vocabulary (8 questions)
• Part 3 - Read a longer text and answer 8 questions related to the text.
• Part 4 - Pick out 6 correct sentences out of 8 choices to fill the gaps in a text to ensure the paragraph is correctly structured.
• Part 5 - Select 4 paragraphs to fit the statements given and then find information from the text to construct a sentence that describes the paragraph.

Tips

1. Read the texts carefully and underline key points.
2. Read the questions and create your own answers first. Then, go to the options given and choose the one closest to your answer.
3. However, you may need to go back to read part of the passage before answering.
4. Beware of trap words like ‘not’, ‘never’, ‘always’ in the questions which may turn a correct answer into an incorrect one. Circle or
5. underline these words when you read the question so that you remember they are in the negative.
6. For longer texts, the sequence of the questions will be asked according to the sequence of information given in the texts. So, do not
7. go all over the passage to look for answers.
8. Normally, the wordings used in the questions can give you an idea of where to look for the answers.

Paper 2 - Writing

Paper 2 is a writing paper where you will have to write three essays. The first and second essays are limited response essays whilst the third essay is an open response essay where you choose one title to write.

• 1st essay - Writing short notes or email in less than 80 words
• 2nd essay - Directed Writing in 125 -150 words
• 3rd essay - Choose 1 out of 3 essays given and write in 200 - 250 words

Tips

1. Using the right words will certainly make your essay a better one. This is the key to better writing. Learn to use different vocabulary (synonyms) when describing things to avoid using the same vocabulary too many times in your essay.
2. Learn to write better sentences. Have variety in your sentence structures - simple sentences; compound sentences (sentences with joining words); sentences with different beginnings (beginning with gerunds, participles, a phrase or preposition)
3. Learn to make sentences of different lengths. Too many long sentences make your writing draggy while too many short sentences make it sound staccato.
4. Make sure all your paragraphs are coherent with clear topic sentences. In simple terms, make sure all the facts you write belong to that paragraph.
5. Add adjectives to nouns; adverbs to verbs, phrases to nouns, clauses to sentences to make your sentences more vivid.
6. Use pairs of words for emphasis, figurative language, idioms, idiomatic expressions, proverbs and similes wherever possible.
7. Use direct speeches to break the monotony of the essay wherever you can.
8. Do not be tempted to write much longer than the number of words stipulated in the question.

Paper 3 - Speaking

Paper 3 is a speaking test. You will take this test with another student. There are 3 parts to this question; the first and second parts need to be answered individually, whilst the last part you will need to make conversation with your partner.

• Part 1 - Answer 4 simple questions individually
• Part 2 - A random topic with a few questions. Students are given 20 seconds to prepare and then to answer the questions within I minute
• Part 3 - The student has to make a conversation with another student for 3 minutes. The students spend 2 minutes discussing the topic and I minute making a stand or a conclusion.

Tips

1. Smile and make yourself feel relaxed.
2. Do not be in a hurry to rattle off before thinking.
3. Do not try to impress by putting on an accent or using bombastic words. Use words that you are comfortable with.
4. Try your best to use the correct tenses when talking about the past, present or future.
5. Do not wait for the examiner to prompt you before talking.
6. Do not talk in a monotonous voice.

Paper 4 - Listening

Paper 4 is a listening test where you will need to listen to a conversation/speech/dialogue/talk and answer the questions given after each of them. There are 30 questions.

• Part 1 - Listen to people talking in 7 different situations and answer 7 questions
• Part 2 - Listen to a conversation and answer 8 questions
• Part 3 - Listen to 5 short extracts and choose answers related to the texts
• Part 4 - Listen to texts with words left out. Write 10 words where the information is missing.

Tips

1. Before listening, read and understand the questions first to know what to expect and also what to focus on while listening.
2. If necessary, highlight the keywords in the questions.
3. Know the question types and what is expected of you for each part of the test.
4. Watch out for distractors. What you hear may not be directly the answer to the question given.