Aptis reading Test: General Tips and Strategies

Know your modals. 
As well as adverbs and adjectives being important, modal verbs are also 
often used in the statements (as in question 18). If you have a good understanding of modals and 
their synonyms, i.e.
Cannot – not able to
Should – not a good idea to
You will have a much better chance to understand the opinions you have. 
Think about 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. 
Positive ideas and statements agreeing with someone normally have a rising intonation. 
Be ready for the information
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. 
As in part 1 & 2, it is extremely helpful to think about the situation before you listen (the technical 
expression for this is ‘activating schemata’). 
Before you listen, you will need to think about this situation and what a person would say if they 
were telling another person their opinions, agreeing, and disagreeing. 
Think about functional vocabulary. 
This is the type of vocabulary used in specific situations. In 
part 3 of the APTIS Listening Test, you have an advantage because you know that it is about 
opinions and that this will also include agreeing and disagreeing with opinions. 

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Before the test, you should make a chart of some of the words and expressions you will need in 
part 3. See the example below. 
Giving Opinions
Agreeing
Disagreeing
In my opinion… 
I can’t agree more. 
I disagree. 
I think that… 
That’s right. 
I’m not so sure about 
that.