Extra practice
As promised, I send you here some extra-practice activities to make up for the holiday. Get ready, because this will be one of my weird, hard-to-understand, crazy ideas.
First, I need you to have a watch or clock near you, as you will need it soon enough.
Now, remember how we practiced reading the whole passage first and then answering the questions? Well, I want you to try out 2 other techniques and I want you to register which one seems easier to you. Remember, you can be given a thousand pieces of advice, but at the end of the day it is you who will be taking the test. You should find what suits you best.
So! First off, I want you to watch this video
Now, follow her advice and do Task 1 of the Extra Practice PDF file. While you do it, time yourself and write down the final timing once you have completed the first text and its questions.
For the second text, I want you to put into practice what we did in class. Read the text really quickly to get the gist of it. Remember to try and read it in under 3 minutes. For this type of strategy, the idea is not that you understand and/or remember everything that is said in the text, but just simply get a general idea of the text as a whole and maybe mark some things here and there, like what each paragraph is about or some names. Answer the questions and, again, time yourself. Once you're done, write down the final timing.
Lastly, I want you to approach the 3rd text with something we haven't practiced yet. I want you to take your time reading and understanding the text fully. Mark as many things as you want and try to absorb the content. Then, answer the questions trying to go back to the text as little as possible. Rely mainly on your memory and your notes/marks. Once again, time yourself and write down the final time.
These are three different strategies that have proven effective for different types of learners. Try them out and see which one suits you best. For section one, you should spend (ideally) under 15 minutes, for section two under 20 minutes, and for section three less than 25 minutes. It is said that each section is supposed to be a bit more challenging than the previous one. See which one you feel more efficient with and stick to that one from now on.
