Academic Reading – task types	

Task Type 1 – Multiple choice

In this task type, candidates are required to choose the best answer from four alternatives A, B, C or D, or the best two answers from five alternatives A, B, C, D or E, or the best three answers from seven alternatives A, B, C, D, E, F or G. Candidates write the letter of the answer they have chosen on the answer sheet. The questions may involve completing a sentence, in which the ‘stem’ gives the first part of a sentence and candidates choose the best way to complete it from the options, or could involve complete questions, with the candidates choosing the option which best answers them. The questions are in the same order as the information in the text: that is, the answer to the first question in this group will be located in the text before the answer to the second question, and so on. This task type may be used with any type of text.
Task Type 2 – Identifying information
The candidate will be given a number of statements and asked: ‘Do the following statements agree with the information in the text?’. Candidates are required to write ‘true’, ‘false’ or ‘not given’ in the boxes on their answer sheets. it is important to understand the difference between 'false' and 'not given'. 'False' means that the passage states the opposite of the statement in question; 'not given' means that the statement is neither confirmed nor contradicted by the information in the passage. (Students need to understand that any knowledge they bring with them from outside the passage should not play a part when deciding on their answers.)
Task Type 3 – Identifying writer’s views/claims
The candidate will be given a number of statements and asked: ‘Do the following statements agree with the views/claims of the writer?’. Candidates are required to write ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘not given’ in the boxes on their answer sheet. It is important to understand the difference between 'no' and 'not given'. 'No' means that the views or claims of the writer explicitly disagree with the statement - i.e. the writer somewhere expresses the view or makes a claim which is opposite to the one given in the question; 'not given' means that the view or claim is neither confirmed nor contradicted. (Students need  to understand that any knowledge they bring with them from outside the passage should not play a part when deciding on their answers.)
Task Type 4 – Matching information
In this task type, candidates are required to locate specific information in the lettered paragraphs/sections of a text, and to write the letters of the correct paragraphs/sections in the boxes on their answer sheet. They may be asked to find; specific details, an example, a reason, a description, a comparison, a summary, an explanation. They will not necessarily need to find information in every paragraph/section of the text, but there may be more than one piece of information that candidates need to locate in a given paragraph/section. When this is the case, they will be told that they can use any letter more than once. This task type can be used with any text as it may test a wide range of reading skills, from locating detail to recognising a summary or definition etc.
Task Type 5 – Matching headings
In this task type, candidates are given a list of headings, usually identified with lower-case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii etc.). A heading will refer to the main idea of the paragraph or section of the text. Candidates must match the heading to the correct paragraphs or sections, which are marked alphabetically. Candidates write the appropriate Roman numerals in the boxes on their answer sheets. There will always be more headings than there are paragraphs or sections, so that some headings will not be used. It is also possible that some paragraphs or sections may not be included in the task. One or more paragraphs or sections may already be matched with a heading as an example for candidates. This task type is used with texts that contain paragraphs or sections with clearly defined themes.
Task Type 6 – Matching features
In this task type, candidates are required to match a set of statements or pieces of information to a list of options. The options are a group of features from the text, and are identified by letters. Candidates may, for example, be required to match different research findings to a list of researchers, or characteristics to age groups, events to historical periods etc. It is possible that some options will not be used, and that others may be used more than once. The instructions will inform candidates if options may be used more than once.
Task Type 7 – Matching sentence endings
In this task type, candidates are given the first half of a sentence based on the text and choose the best way to complete it from a list of possible options. They will have more options to choose from than there are questions. Candidates must write the letter they have chosen on the answer sheet. The questions are in the same order as the information in the passage: that is, the answer to the first question in this group will be found before the answer to the second question, and so on. This task type may be used with any type of text.
Task Type 8 – Sentence completion
This task type requires candidates to complete sentences in a given number of words taken from the text. Candidates must write their answers on the answer sheet. The instructions will make it clear how many words/numbers candidates should use in their answers, e.g. ‘NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage’, ‘ONE WORD ONLY’ or ‘NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS’. If candidates write more than the number of words asked for, they will lose the mark. Numbers can be written using figures or words. Contracted words will not be tested. Hyphenated words count as single words. The questions are in the same order as the information in the passage: that is, the answer to the first question in this group will be found before the answer to the second question, and so on. This task type may be used with any type of text.
Task Type 9 – Summary, note, table, flow-chart completion
With this task type, candidates are given some type of summary of a section of the text, and are required to complete it with information drawn from the text. Note that the summary will usually be of only one part of the passage rather than the whole. The given information may be in the form of; several connected sentences of text (referred to as a summary), several notes (referred to as notes), a table with some of its cells empty or partially empty (referred to as a table), a series of boxes or steps linked by arrows to show a sequence of events, with some of the boxes or steps empty or partially empty (referred to as a flow-chart).
The answers will not necessarily occur in the same order as in the text. However, they will usually come from one section rather than the entire text.
There are two variations of this task type. Candidates may be asked either to select words from the text or to select from a list of answers.
Where words have to be selected from the passage, the instructions will make it clear how many words/numbers candidates should use in their answers, e.g. ‘NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage’, ‘ONE WORD ONLY’ or ‘NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS’. If candidates write more than the number of words asked for, they will lose the mark. 
Numbers can be written using figures or words. Contracted words are not tested. Hyphenated words count as single words.
Where a list of answers is provided, they most frequently consist of a single word.
Because this task type often relates to precise factual information, it is often used with descriptive texts.
Task Type 10 – Diagram label completion
In this task type, candidates are required to complete labels on a diagram which relates to a description contained in the text. The instructions will make it clear how many words/ numbers candidates should use in their answers, e.g. ‘NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage’, ‘ONE WORD ONLY’ or ‘NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS’. If candidates write more than the number of words asked for, they will lose the mark. Numbers can be written using figures or words. Contracted words will not be tested. Hyphenated words count as single words. The answers do not necessarily occur in order in the passage. However, they will usually come from one section rather than the entire text. The diagram may be of some type of machine, or of parts of a building or of any other element that can be represented pictorially. This task type is often used with texts describing processes or with descriptive texts.
Task Type 11 – Short-answer questions
This task type requires candidates to answer questions, which usually relate to factual information, about details in the text. Thus it is most likely to be used with a text that contains a lot of factual information and detail.
Candidates must write their answers in words or numbers on the answer sheet. 
Candidates must write their answers using words from the text. The instructions will make it clear how many words/ numbers candidates should use in their answers, e.g. ‘NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage’, ‘ONE WORD ONLY’ or ‘NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS’. If candidates write more than the number of words asked for, they will lose the mark. 
Numbers can be written using figures or words. Contracted words are not tested. Hyphenated words count as single words.
The questions are in the same order as the information in the text.

Marks:	All questions carry 1 mark.