Aptis reading Test: General Tips and Strategies

Part 3: In this part of the test, you are going to look at two pictures and I will ask you two 
questions about it. You will have 45 seconds for each response. Begin speaking when you hear 
the beep.
 
3.1. Compare the pictures. 

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In the first picture, I can see a young girl. It looks like she is at her graduation. Maybe for high 
school or university. She seems like she is proud. In the other picture, we see a man who just 
climbed a mountain. He is looking at the view from the top. I think he might be tired.
3.2. What do these people have in common? 
Well, both of these people have completed an important achievement. The girl on the left has 
graduated high school, or maybe university whereas the man on the right has climbed a mountain. 
Although he has reached a physical accomplishment, there is a mental part to it as well.
3.3. Which of these achievements is more special? Why? 
I think the graduation is probably a more common achievement. A lot of people graduate from 
high school or university every year, and it is kind of expected. For that reason, I think the 
adventurer has a more special accomplishment because it is not every day you can climb a 
mountain.
Part 4: In this part of the test, you will look at a picture and answer the questions below. 
You will have 60 seconds to prepare before you start speaking. Then, you will speak for 2 
minutes.
4.1 What are some of the advantages of living in the country? 
4.2 Why do many people feel they need nature around them? 
4.3 Is moving away everything that people think? 
I believe that living in the country doesn’t suit everybody. Some people like to be surrounded by 
amenities like shops, restaurants, and cinemas and as a consequence, living in the country isn’t for 
them. On the other hand, Modern life is becoming increasingly difficult with crowds, traffic jams 
and all the stresses get from being packed together. It’s no wonder people want to get away. The 
idea that most people have of the countryside is that it’s quiet, slower, the people are friendlier and 
happier, and there’s no stress and no crime. While these may seem true, it’s probably an idealised 
picture because for a lot of people, living in the countryside has its own problems. You don’t earn 
much, housing is expensive, there’s nothing for young people to do. All over the world people go to 
the cities from the country looking for work. It’s only if you have money that you can you afford to 
live in the country. For people who live in cities, there has always been a big pull to get back to a 

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more natural life and, as I said earlier, many people have an idealised picture. However, as 
environmental problems have become more and more apparent, people have started to think about 
and value nature more than they once did. In my experience, if you want to move away because it 
makes you a different person, then that’s not going to happen. I think if you plan it right, moving 
away allows you to do things you want to do but it won’t automatically make you do these things. A 
man I know moved to Australia and said that he was going to go swimming every morning. He didn’t 
do this in his own country and when he got to Australia, he didn’t do it there either.

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