OET PART a _ Part B Reading

PART A reading

& PART

B reading

What is the difference? PART A reading is a series of 4 separate pieces of information - on all the one topic. The information could be in the form of a dotpointed list / a table with numbers or percentages / perhaps a flow chart / a map / a few short paragraphs / one page of writing - in short, different ways of presenting information. Your task in this part is to complete the “gap fill” exercise. There will be somewhere between 25 and 30 gaps to be completed - drawing on the information in the separate pieces of information. You are given 15 minutes to complete Part A. (Not enough time). The OETWorkshop strongly recommends you adopt a ‘time management’ approach to Part A - and follow this strategy: 1. Read only the headings of each separate piece of information 2. Go to the gap-fill exercise and find out how many gaps are to be filled in 3. Estimate how much time you have to find the answer to each ‘gap’. Example: 15 minutes LESS 2 minutes to “read” / “skim read” the 4 pieces of text – that leaves you with 13 minutes. 13 minutes X 60 seconds = 780 seconds. Let’s say you have 30 gaps to be filled. 780 DIVIDED BY 30 = 26 seconds per gap. 4. Don’t forget: You only need 65% correct to get a “B” score. [65% of 30 gaps = 19.5 rounded up to 20 gaps. Get 20 out of 30 correct = “B” - a pass! ] 5. If you have any problems finding the answer to a particular gap – move on – don’t waste time remember, you only need 65% correct to get a pass.

PART B reading is comprised of TWO x 600 to 650 word pieces of text – each one with 7 or 8 multiple choice questions. You have to circle a, b, c or d - to indicate which option you think best fits the question. [Often there are two options which could be the right answer - but one will be more right than the other.] You are given 45 minutes to complete Part B - about 20 minutes for each reading. The OETWorkshop strongly recommends you try to understand the question that is being asked: The author asserts - is different from According to the data .... . If the author is asserting something, the author is putting forward his / her opinion on something - whereas, ‘according to the data’ relies on factual evidence. Again, if you have any problems trying to find a clear-cut answer to one of the questions – leave it – move on – come back to it later. Remember, you only need 65% correct to get a pass. 65% of 16 questions (8 questions for each passage) = 10.4 rounded up to 11. You need 11 out of 16 questions to get a “B” score.