Aptis reading Test: General Tips and Strategies

Think about the situation. 
It is an important strategy in all listening tests and means preparing 
yourself for the answer so that you recognise it when you hear it. 
In all parts of the APTIS listening, it is extremely helpful to think about the situation before you 
listen (the technical expression for this is ‘activating schemata’). 
Before you do part 4, you will need to think about the situation and what a person in that situation 
would say. What would they say if they were giving another person their opinions, agreeing, 
disagreeing? Expressing different attitudes or intentions? 
Think about functional vocabulary. 
This is the type of vocabulary used in specific situations. In 
part 4 of the APTIS Listening Test, you have an advantage because you know that it is the answers 
are opinions and that this will also include agreeing and disagreeing with opinions. You know that 
you should think about adjectives that express attitudes- disgusted, disappointed, proud etc and 
phrases that talk about intentions- going to, planning on, would like to. 
When you have thought about these, you can match them with the keywords in the monologue 
and find the correct answer. 
Listen for the ‘introduction’ words. 
These are the words that come before and prepare you for 
the specific information that you need to answer the question. Again, you should imagine what 
people would say in a dialogue like this. 
Flag the questions you are not certain about and return to them
. You may not want to use too 
much time on the questions and so you can flag them and return later
.
Make a note
of the things that you want to check when you go back and listen again. If you are 
not sure of the answer is on the first listen, know what you are looking for when you play it again. 
When you listen a second time, make sure that you prepare yourself and concentrate. You still 
have to listen carefully to the introductions to the answers and for the right matches- the information 
you need to answer the question correctly.