2.2. Academic and General Training Reading
See exactly what changes between the two versions, and what does not.
The short version
Both versions give you 60 minutes and 40 questions.
Only the texts change between them.
Academic gives you three long passages.
General Training starts short and ends long.
The rules are the same
The clock, the number of questions and the question types do not change between the versions. Each question is worth one mark on both. Only the reading material changes.
One thing does differ
The number of correct answers you need for a given band is not quite the same on the two versions. The marking lesson that follows shows the figures.
What you are given to read
Three long passages from books, journals and newspapers. They are written for a general reader, not for a specialist. They usually get harder as you go.
Short everyday texts first, then workplace texts, then one longer article at the end. The texts get longer as you move through the paper.
Inside General Training
The paper is built in three sections, and each one uses a different kind of text. The texts get longer and harder as you move from section 1 to section 3.
The parts, in order
Notices, adverts and timetables. The sort of thing you read to find one fact.
Job adverts, staff handbooks and training notes.
A single longer text of general interest, at the end.
Inside Academic
All three Academic texts are long articles written for a general reader, taken from books, journals, magazines and newspapers. What changes from Passage 1 to Passage 3 is how hard they are, not what kind of text they are.
The parts, in order
The most approachable of the three. A good place to build a rhythm.
Longer sentences and more unfamiliar vocabulary.
Usually the hardest. Often the most argument based.
Quiz time3 questions
Three quick questions on the two versions.
Three long passages
Choose the version.
Which version gives you three long passages?
What does not change
Choose what is the same on both.
What is the same on both versions?
The longest text
Choose where it comes.
In General Training, where is the longest text?
Recap
The clock, the questions and the question types are the same on both versions.
Academic gives three long passages that get harder.
General Training moves from short everyday texts to one long article.
Next: how your correct answers turn into a band score.