A2 Key Exam Guide: Reading Comprehension Multiple Choice
Reading & Writing Paper
Contents
Overview
Context: Part of the Reading & Writing paper in the A2 Key exam, this section focuses on detailed understanding of a longer text.
Task: Read one long text, such as a simplified newspaper or magazine article, followed by five multiple-choice questions. Each question has three options.
Objective: To understand the main ideas and some details of the text.
Scoring & Marks: The five questions are worth five points, so one point for each. There are 60 points available for the whole Reading & Writing paper.
How to Approach
- Skim the Text: Initially, skim through the text to grasp the general topic and meaning.
- Read Carefully: Then, read the text more closely to understand the details.
- Analyse Questions: Look at each question and consider all three options in relation to the text.
- Choose Wisely: Select the option that best matches the information or idea presented in the text.
- Review: Double-check your choices and consider why the other options are less suitable.
Example Question
Hedgehogs eat different kinds of food. They like insects and worms. Sometimes, they eat fruit and vegetables. Their diet is varied and helps them stay healthy.
What is the best thing to give a hedgehog to eat?
Some chicken
An apple
Some chocolate
Assessment Focus
This section tests understanding of the main ideas and specific details in longer texts.
Tips
- Practice reading a variety of longer texts to become familiar with different themes and styles.
- Develop both skimming (for general understanding) and scanning (for specific information) skills.
- Learn to distinguish between main ideas and supporting details in a text.
- Pay attention to how questions are phrased to identify the type of information required.
- Often, the answer to a multiple-choice question is not directly stated in the text, so learn to read between the lines.
How It Looks
Student Suggestion
"Reading articles from different sources helped me to improve my comprehension skills for this part of the exam. It's important to practise understanding both the general idea and specific details." - Lucia Fernandez
