Aptis reading Test: General Tips and Strategies

Be careful of ‘distractors’.
As discussed in parts 1, 2 & 3 distractors are words and phrases that 
are included in the text. These sound like they might be the answer but aren’t. 
In part 3 & 4 distractors are often different because you are not listening for specific information. 
In these parts, you need to be careful of adverbs, nouns and adjectives which can affect the meaning. 
However, there are distractors in the example in which words can sound the same. Question C has 
the word ‘war’ in it and during the speaking, there are references to ‘fighting’ ‘aggressively’ and 
‘violence’. There is also the use of an expression that is similar to world war- ‘global worming. 
Know your grammar.
Grammar is always important because you have to understand the 
inference of the sentence. 
To answer above question we need to think about predictions and what time the speaker is talking 
about. If the speaker makes a future prediction or uses a conditional using ‘will’, then he, or she is 
referring to the future. The answer to above question 23 should follow ‘will’. The professor says: 
‘And I believe the situation will exacerbate’. The answer is C ‘will get worse’. 
When you analyse the grammar you will understand the inference more clearly and be more likely 
to give the correct answer. 
Think about intonation and word stress. 
To understand a negative or positive reaction you 
should listen to intonation and word stress. A negative reaction or disagreeing with what’s being said 
is more likely to have a falling intonation. Negative auxiliaries and modals are usually stressed and 
so these will help indicate what is inferred. Moreover, positive ideas and statements which agree 
with someone normally have a rising intonation. 

---

Be ready for the information