Aptis reading Test: General Tips and Strategies

How To Tackle Monologue Comprehension Question?
Analyse the questions and options

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Read the main question
. We have to keep emphasising this but with section 4 you must be clear 
on both parts of the question. You will only give the right answer if can see how the two sections can 
join together. 
Take note of the keywords. 
In part 4 of the listening test, the question options are a little longer 
and more complicated than in section 3. Think about the keywords in both sections. The first section 
of the question askes: 
1. What is his overall opinion? 
Here the word ‘opinion’ is the keyword and you need to listen for something he believes. ‘His’ is 
also important so you must listen for only his opinion and not someone he quotes
.
You should ask yourself 
‘What words express opinions?
’ And be listening for them, 
 
‘Overall’ 
could also be an important word and so it is good to make a note of it too. If his opinion is about a 
specific part of the results and not the overall result, then that may not be the correct answer. 
Then we have to think about the three options (the stem sentences). 
A. Environmental problems require more concern than social and economic ones. 
B. Global warming and poverty carry equal prominence. 
C. The world will go to war over environmental issues. 
The key phrase is ‘more concern’. 
In B there is a key phrase- ‘equal prominence’. 
For C the key phrase is ‘war over’ but it has to be used in connection with ‘environmental issues’. 
The answer to this question is option A because the professor states: 
‘It is critical to work on economic and social issues, but it is slightly more crucial to take care of 
our planet’. 
‘More concern’ and ‘more crucial’ express similar ideas. We can eliminate answer B because it 
says ‘equal prominence’, not more. 
As in part 3, adverbs, nouns and adjectives play a greater part in these questions. They are 
designed to see what you infer, in other words, what you conclude from statements that are not 
obvious. 
As with other parts of the listening test, the keyword may not always be repeated in the dialogue. 
You should be prepared to listen for synonyms and parallel expressions. These will again be 
discussed later in the article.