Aptis reading Test: General Tips and Strategies

Exam Techniques- 
How to answer the question 
Read the text quickly (scan). You are not trying to understand the whole test but just get a 
general idea. Remember, if you take too much time reading you will not be able to complete the 
task. 
Do not worry if you cannot understand a word. Decide what type of word it is. i.e. a verb, 
adjective, adverb, noun. Ask yourself, is it positive or negative? Then decide if it is important to 
understanding the sentence/text. 
For example: 
The inaugural competition was held in Uruguay in 1930.
The word ‘inaugural’ is an adjective (which means ‘first’) but is not important to the overall 
meaning of the sentence. 
Analyse the Headings
Look at the headings and underline the keywords. Keywords are the words that carry the 
meaning of the sentence. 
The word will probably not be repeated in the text and so you will also need to think of synonyms 
or expressions that mean the same thing. 
Example: 
A. Inclusivity of Nations
We can guess that 
inclusivity 
is related to the verb ‘include’ (it is the noun form). This is the 
keyword. The paragraph inclusivity refers to, will talk about including other countries. 
Or 
B.
Controversial
Issues 
Controversial
relates to things which are difficult to accept or which causes people to argue. The 
paragraph will refer to these problems but may use words which have a similar meaning to 
‘controversial’. 
Understanding the Text- The Topic Sentence(s)
In a standard piece of non-fiction English, a paragraph normally has a ‘topic sentence’. 
Sometimes it may cover more than one sentence, but you will find a ‘topic’ and a ‘controlling 
idea’. This is nor as complicated as it sounds. Look at the example. 
Example: 
Cats make excellent pets.
Here the topic is ‘cats’ and the controlling idea is that they ‘make excellent pets.’ The rest of the 
paragraph will discuss why/how/why not? And will give examples, reasons and arguments against 
this idea. There should not be anything in this paragraph about the history of cats or what they eat 
(unless it is related to ‘make excellent pets’). 
Paragraph 1 begins: 
The inaugural competition was held in Uruguay in 1930. However, it was far smaller than the 
present day.
The topic is the first FIFA World Cup. We see the synonym: ‘
competition’.
The controlling idea is ‘
it was far smaller than present-day’.
Looking at the list of headings, we can see that letter I- ‘Humble Beginnings’ is the correct answer 
because it refers to the first World Cup (beginnings) and the fact that it was modest or small 
(humble). 
Paragraph 2 begins: 
The World Cup looks quite different today. Most remarkably, it has expanded to include a thirty-
two-team roster, representing all continents

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Here the topic is again the World Cup and the controlling idea is that it is different today. 
Looking at the list of headings, we can see that letter C- ‘The Tournament in the Modern Day’ is 
the correct answer because it refers to the World Cup (The Tournament) and the fact that it is quite 
different today. 
Paragraph 3 begins: 
The tournament has seen participants from every corner of the globe.
The topic is once again the World Cup and the controlling idea is that countries from all around 
the world play in it. 
If we look at headings, we can see that letter A- ‘The Inclusivity of Nations’ is the correct answer 
because it once again refers to the World Cup (The Tournament) and that countries from all around 
the world (every corner of the globe) play or are included in it. 
The topic sentence is usually at the beginning of the paragraph and you should look at the first one 
or two sentences carefully because they will give you a strong indication of the correct answer. The 
rest of the paragraph will give you additional information and it is a good idea to scan it to get an 
idea of what it says and help confirm that you are correct. 
When you have finished, check that you have matched all the paragraphs and headings and that 
they all look correct. Remember that if one match looks wrong then at least two questions could be 
incorrect.