OET_SUPPORT

READING SUB-TEST
Prepare by Dr Mohamed Mansour

Format of the OET Reading sub-test

The Reading sub-test consists of two parts, Part A and Part B.

The topics are of generic medical interest appropriate for all
health professionals.

Part A (15 minutes)

You will be given 3 – 4 short texts on the same health topic.
You will also be given a summary of the texts. You will need to
complete 25 – 35 gaps in the summary with information from
the texts.

Part B (45 minutes)

You will be given two health-related reading passages of 600
– 800 words each. You will need to answer 8 – 10 multiple
choice questions for each text.

All OET candidates take the same Reading test and Listening
Test, regardless of their profession.
PART A

In Part A of the OET Reading sub-test, you will have 15

minutes to read three or four short texts and complete a
summary.

This part of the test is designed to test your ability to move

quickly between a number of texts to find relevant
information. The texts are all on the same general medical
topic, but provide different information and perspectives.

The types of texts may include:

 Short articles from medical magazines
 Information leaflets
 Extracts from medical textbooks
 Case studies
 Numerical data in the form of graphs, tables, charts or
diagrams
 Abstracts of research studies
 Workplace memos
 Patient records.
The summary covers important points from the three or four
short texts. It is about 350 words long and contains about 25-
35 gaps that you will need to complete with one to three
words.
By completing the gaps correctly, you will show that you can:
 Locate specific information
 Understand the different text types
 Synthesise information from different sources
 Summarise information
 Recognise paraphrasing
 Use appropriate spelling and word forms.
PART B

In Part B of the Reading sub-test, you will need to read two

longer medical texts and answer questions about them. There
is a time limit of 45 minutes.

The Part B texts are similar to texts you will find in academic
or professional journals. They are on general health-related
topics.

After each of the texts, you will find 8-10 multiple choice
questions or unfinished statements. You must choose the one
response which you think fits best.
The questions will test your ability to:
 Understand main ideas
 Understand specific details
 Understand underlying themes
 Recognise and understand paraphrase
 Understand cohesion between parts of a text
 Follow a complex argument that is made over several
paragraphs.
Types of questions you will get

PART A

 The answer sheet contains a summary and answer

boxes.
 Complete the 25-35 gaps.
 Write your answers on the right.
PART B

 PART B contains multiple choice questions that look like

this.

Here is an example of a multiple choice question that tests if

you can understand main ideas.
Here is an example of a question that tests if you can
understand specific details.

Here is an example of a question where you have to complete a

sentence.
Here is an example of a question where you have to give the
meaning of a word.
May test vocabulary knowledge OR ability to infer meaning
from context
Tips for success on test day

Before the test

Read as widely as possible, especially medical articles, studies

and current affairs websites.

Do a practice test beforehand so you know what it feels like.

Learn about different types of texts, i.e. how information is

structured and what types of language are used.

On the day

Bring your ID.

You can write your answers in pen or pencil. (If you write in
pencil, you can change your answers more easily.)

In Part A, read the Summary first before you look at the texts.

In Part B, divide your time equally between the two reading

texts.

Make sure you look in the right place for the answer. If the
question says ‘According to paragraph 2’……, you will find the
answer in paragraph 2.

Write on the texts and questions if it helps you. For example,

underline key words.

Answer every question.

Part A Preparation

Reading Part A: Identifying different text types

In Part A of the Reading test you will encounter 3 or 4

different types of text. Each type of text has features, or
characteristics that will help you identify it.

Abstract (a summary or overview of a longer piece of work,

often a piece of research).
 Written in formal and clear language
 Information is condensed but coherent
 Frequent use of passive structures (e.g. ‘were studied‘ /
have been discovered’)
 Key words and phrases will help you identify the central
issues quickly.

Descriptions or journal extracts

 Written in formal and clear language
 Information is condensed but coherent
 Descriptions are logical and objective
 Frequent use of technical and/or academic vocabulary
 Complex grammatical structures
 Frequent use of passive structures.
Short article from a medical magazine
 May contain differing viewpoints
 May contain emotive, persuasive and more colloquial
language.

Case report / case study

 Written in a way that is clear and easy-to-read
 Case is described concisely (in as few words as possible),
and in chronological order (starting with what happened
first)
 The patient’s perspective (if included) may be less
formal.

Chart (e.g. a table showing statistics)

 Frequent use of numerical data
 Information is presented clearly, but may not be
explained. You will need to analyse the data shown
 Headings give important information that can be used to
interpret the data.

Anecdotes, interviews and information leaflets

 Likely to be informal
 More frequent use of personal pronouns
 Language is easy to understand – fewer technical terms
and complex sentence structures.
Reading Part A: Different kinds of gap fill

To complete the gaps in a Part A summary, you may:

1. Copy a word (or number) from the text.
or
2. Copy a word from the text but change its form to make
sure the sentence is grammatically correct.
or
3. Write a new word or phrase that is not in the text, but
which has the correct meaning.

In Part A of the test, you can write one to three word answers
to complete each gap. In this activity, all the answers are one
word only.

Reading Part A: Synonyms & Paraphrase

In Part A you will be partly assessed on your ability to recognise

paraphrase, so it is important to understand that the summary
often re-words information given in the texts. You will need to
scan for synonyms in the texts to find the right answer.
Reading Part A: Word forms

You will also be assessed on your ability to use appropriate

spelling and word forms. This means that you need to identify
when the summary requires a different form of the word used
in the text. The missing words are in the text – but you will have
to change the word form for grammatical accuracy.
Part B Preparation

Reading Part B: Identify the theme of the text

In Part B of the Reading test, you will be partly assessed on your

ability to understand the main idea of paragraphs and texts as
a whole. In order to do this, you will need to skim, which is a
strategy used to quickly identify the theme or topic of a text. It
is done very quickly by looking for key words which will give
you a general idea of what the text is about.

Reading Part B: Features of academic texts –

linking words

Being able to recognise common features of academic texts will

help you understand Part B texts. One such feature is the use of
linking words.

In conversation, “since” is mostly used to talk about time – e.g.

‘I’ve been studying for OET since January’. In academic texts,
however, ‘since’ is often used to give a reason.
“While” is also used to talk about time in every day
conversation – e.g. I often listen to music while I’m studying’. In
academic texts, however, ‘while’ is usually used for contrast.

Stylistic features of academic texts:

 Objective – the writer focusses on facts, and supporting
evidence.
 Explicit – the writer states what he/she wants to say as
clearly as possible.
 Concise - the writer tries to use as few words as possible
to express meaning.
 Fairly frequent use of hedging (being cautious).

Linguistic features of academic texts:

 Formal – infrequent use of pronouns (e.g. ‘I’ and ‘my’ are
often avoided); use of academic, not colloquial vocabulary
(e.g. ‘consumption of tofu’ instead of ‘eating tofu’).
 Complex – longer sentences that contain a lot of
meaning.
 A lot of nouns and noun phrases, passive verbs, linking
adverbials (conjunctions) and subordinate clauses.
Reading Part B: Features of academic texts –
referencing

Part B will also require you to understand relationships between

ideas. These relationships are commonly expressed using
referencing, which is a device used to connect ideas within the
text. There may be examples of backward reference (to
something that has been mentioned before) or forward
reference (to something that is introduced in the next clause or
sentence).
Reading Part B: Features of academic texts –
degrees of certainty

Authors of academic texts often use expressions to indicate a

degree of doubt and/or certainty that exists around a specific
idea or topic.

The claims are The claims are The author makes

strong/very strong more cautious no commitment

is (not) could (not) He reports that …

will not may (not) There is evidence to
must not might (not) suggest that …
can/cannot possibly(not) ...seems that...
should (not) perhaps(not) ...appears that...
definite(ly) likely/unlikely ...is said that...
clear(ly)
undoubtedly
certain(ly)
probably(not)
Part of Common words used
Example
speech to express certainty

may, might, could, 'soy intake may increase

modals
etc. cancer risk'

certain, definite, '... its possible estrogenic

adjectives
possible effects ...'

undoubtedly, '... it is undoubtedly

adverbs
possibly, etc. nutritious...'

conclude, confirm, '... which research suggests

establish, tend, may be due to ...'; 'Estimates
verbs
suggest, speculate, suggest that...' '...which tend
seem etc. to be in cholesterol...'

'Uncertainty persists as to
uncertainty;
why...'
nouns speculation;
'there is some possibility
possibility
that...'
Reading Part B: Inferring meaning from context

In Part B you may be asked to infer the meaning of an uncommon

technical or medical word.

You will need to read around the word for clues which help
explain the meaning. For example, you may find words which
give an example of the word, or signal a synonym, definition, or
antonym.

Type of clue Signalled by...

(sometimes) called, known as, defined as,

referred to as, means, similar to.
Synonyms and Or, the synonym/definition may appear
definitions between commas (,…,) or dashes (–…–)
Note: a synonym could occur before or after
the signal.

(as) an example, for example, e.g., for instance,

Examples
instances of, cases of, including, like, such as

although, but (not), despite, even though,

Antonyms however, in contrast, in spite of, nevertheless,
(opposite on the other hand, unlike, while, yet
words) Note: the antonym could occur before or after
the signal.
Learning how different connectives are used will help you
understand academic texts.

Here are some that are commonly used:

Use of connectives Example

To show contrast or signal

that the argument is going but, even so, still, whereas…
to change

as a matter of fact, in fact,

To show contradiction
actually…

To give a reason or show accordingly, as a consequence,

cause & effect since, so, therefore, because of…

For comparison or to show in comparison, in the same way,

similarity similarly…

apart from this, besides,

To give extra information
furthermore, not only…but also, in
or add to ideas
addition, moreover, too…

to begin with, at first, in the

To indicate time or order second place, later, next,
eventually, in the end…

after all, clearly, it goes without

To state the obvious saying, as one might expect,
naturally, of course

To give an example for instance, as follows, such as …

 as a rule, for the most part,
To make a generalisation normally, on the whole, in most
cases, usually…

chiefly, in detail, in particular,

For emphasis
mainly, notably…

to put it another way, in other

To give an explanation or
words, that is to say, to be more
show equivalence
precise…

admittedly, oddly/strangely
To show author’s attitude
enough, unfortunately…

in brief, in conclusion, in short,

To summarise or conclude
overall, to sum up…

Best wishes
Dr Mohamed Mansour