Part A: Expeditious (fast) reading tasks (20 questions /15 minutes).

 Reading part A is the first section of the reading exam.

 Part A consist 4 short texts related to a single healthcare topic.
o For e.g. if Main title: Migraine
o Then following texts (A-D) will include information like symptoms, management,
treatment etc... something related to the main title
 The 4 texts in this section contains a variety of text types you might find in the workplace -
including at least one that presents visual or tabular information, such as: a flow chart, table,
or diagram. Other texts in Part A will include information in paragraphs and bullet-pointed
lists.
 There will be 20 questions based on these 4 texts which includes matching, short answer
and sentence completion questions. You will get 15 minutes to answer these questions,
after that your paper will be collected. i.e. you will get only less than 1 minute per question.

Since we have only 15 minutes to complete 20 questions, we certainly need to understand

what we are looking for?

1. Know the Instructions

You should make sure you are familiar with what you have to do before you take the test. The
instructions for Reading Part A look like this:

TIME: 15 minutes

 Look at the four texts, A – D, in the Text Booklet.

 For each question, 1 – 20, look through the texts, A – D, to find the
 relevant information.
 Write your answers on the spaces provided in this Question Paper.
 Answer all the questions within the 15-minute time limit.

If you know the instructions beforehand, you don’t have to waste time reading the instructions
on your test day.

2. Know the Format

In Part A of the Reading Test, you need to look at the 4 texts provided across two pages of your
test booklet. The 4 texts in this section are examples of a variety of text types you might find in
the workplace - including at least one that presents visual or tabular information, such as: a flow
chart, table, or diagram. Other texts in Part A will include information in paragraphs and bullet-
pointed lists. Some of the texts in this section will even contain numbers.

3. Identifying the question type

In Part A of the Reading Test there are 3 task types:

 Matching: this task asks you to identify which text contains a particular information.
  Short Answer: Here you have to answer each question with a word or short phrase from
one of the texts
 Sentence Completion: here you have to complete each sentence with a word or short
phrase from one of the texts.

Reading Skills assessed in OET reading part A

The Reading sub-test is designed so that you need to use the right reading skills at the right
times. Therefore, it is important to understand the reading skills assessed for each part of the
reading sub test.

 Reading Part A (the expeditious reading task) tests your ability to skim and scan quickly
across different texts on a given topic in order to locate specific information.
 For that purpose, Part A is strictly timed, and you must complete all 20 question items
within the allocated 15 minutes.
 To complete the task successfully, you will also need to understand the conventions of
different medical text types and understand the presentation of numerical and textual
information.

So, let’s take a closer look at the skills that are assessed in OET reading Part A.

Skimming and scanning

While they both involve reading through a text quickly, they involve searching for different kinds
of information.

skimming refers to the process of reading only main ideas within a passage to get an overall
impression of the content of a reading selection.

E.g. Selecting a book, magazine- quickly discover the article that you would like to read.

How to Skim:

 Read the title.

 Read the first sentence of every paragraph.
 Read any headings and sub-headings.
 Notice any pictures, charts, or graphs.
 Notice any italicized or boldface words or phrases.
 Highlight the keywords

Scanning is a reading technique to be used when you want to find specific information quickly.
In scanning you have a question in your mind, and you read a passage only to find the answer,
ignoring unrelated information. It involves rapid eye movements and keywords to advance
quickly through a text.
 e.g. dictionary, wherein one looks for a specific word meaning or a directory wherein one
searches for the phone number of someone.

How to Scan:

 State the specific information you are looking for.

 Try to anticipate how the answer will appear and what clues you might use to help you
locate the answer. For example, if you were looking for a certain date, you would quickly
read the paragraph looking only for numbers.
 Use headings and any other aids that will help you identify which sections might contain the
information you are looking for.
 Selectively read and skip through sections of the passage.

Where and how to use skimming technique in OET reading Part A

 Matching questions
o The first task in Reading Part A always asks you to identify which text contains the
given information.
o For example, a Matching Question might ask ‘Which text provides information about
identifying delirium in patients?’
o To answer such questions, you need to understand the general meaning of the 4
texts, rather than the specific details.
o The best way to accomplish this is by using skimming reading technique.
o So, in the first 1 minute of the reading Part A, you have to skim read all the 4 texts A-
D (i.e. you need to quickly read headings, subheadings highlighted phrases etc..) to
get a general understanding of each text and how it is different. This will help you to
go to the most likely text to contain the answer when you start skimming for the
answers.
o then you can read each question from 1-7 and identify which text contain the
information given in the question.
o Note: The questions will avoid repeating words and phrases exactly as they appear
in the texts, so you will need to understand the meaning of the question and find the
matching information in one of the passages.

Where and how to use scanning technique in OET reading Part A

In the other 2 tasks i.e. short answer and sentence completion tasks you need to locate the
correct word or short phrase from the texts. So, the best way to answer these questions will be
to use scanning techniques during reading.

Short answer questions

 To answer Short Answer questions, you need to locate the correct word or short phrase
from the texts. i.e. you need to scan the correct word or short phrases.
  You will have to write the answer to these questions using only the information given in
the texts.
 Short Answer questions will require you to look at the four texts in more detail than you
did for Matching questions, as the answers to Short Answer questions might be found in
a single sentence in one of the texts.
 These questions will often include specific words, such as types of medication,
treatment or reactions in patients, you have to identify such keywords and scan the four
texts to find where this type of information in presented.
 Once you’ve found the information, you need to understand the type of word or phrase
you need to answer the question.
 Look at the question to understand what type of information is being asked for; for
example, a question that asks ‘What should patients suffering from fever be given?
could be answered with a type of medication, a beverage, or an item. The question
could not, on the other hand, be answered with a number alone, or a type of illness.
When you’re struggling to find the answer to the question, it can be helpful to narrow
down the type of answer you need and look for the possible answers in the relevant
text.
 Make sure you copy the words exactly, and do not include words or phrases that are not
present in the text. The answer will generally require 1 to 3 words from the text.
 Keep your answers short and avoid including unnecessary information as it may lead the
assessor to believe that you do not understand the text fully or are not sure of the
correct answer.
 If you’re confident you’ve identified the information in one of the texts, without
checking the other texts, write your answer down and move on.

Sentence Completion

 To answer Sentence Completion questions, you need to fill the gaps in each sentence
with a word or short phrase from one of the texts.
 The process for answering these questions is similar to that used for Short Answer
questions. Look at the words in the sentence that are likely to guide you to the
information in the text, scan the text for these words until you find the information, and
identify the word or short phrase that is most likely to complete the sentence.
 Before completing the sentence, read the sentence to yourself (in your head, not out
loud) with your answer, to confirm that the sentence makes sense using the words you
have chosen. If it does, complete the sentence. If it does not make sense, read the
relevant piece of information more closely, and choose another word or short phrase.

Now we can do an example to find how we can use these techniques effectively.

Example and discussion

Part A of official sample reading material – Paracetamol

 First skim read the 4 passages for 1 minute, 15 secs for each passage
o Read the title.
o Read the first sentence of every paragraph.
 o Read any headings and sub-headings.
o Notice any pictures, charts, or graphs.
o Notice any italicized or boldface words or phrases
o Underline keywords
 After skim reading, we will gain an understanding of the content within each text.
o TEXT A: Talks about paracetamol contraindications and indications, warnings and
precautions for use, interaction with other medications.
o TEXT B: is a flow chart for procedure for acute single overdose.
o TEXT C: gives graph time vs plasma-paracetamol concentration, treatment that
should be provided in case the concentration is above normal treatment line, it also
gives information on how to treat patients on enzyme-drugs and who are
malnourished.
o TEXT D: gives information on clinical assessment and history.

Questions 1-7 matching questions

 You should always answer these questions first, as they will help you to gain an
understanding of the content within each text.
1. the various symptoms of patients who have taken too much paracetamol.

 Here the questions will avoid repeating words and phrases exactly as they appear in the
texts, so you will need to understand the meaning of the question and find the matching
information in one of the passages.
 identify which text contains the given information.
 Since text D talks about clinical assessments and history it is very likely that given
information will be in TEXT D.
 check the text to confirm, write the answer, and move on to the next question.

Similarly, we can do questions 2-7.

Questions 8-13 short answer

8. If paracetamol is used as a long-term painkiller, what symptom may get worse?

 To answer Short Answer questions, you need to locate the correct word or short phrase
from the texts.
 You will have to write the answer to these questions using only the information given in
the texts.
 Short Answer questions will require you to look at the four texts in more detail than you
did for Matching questions, as the answers to Short Answer questions might be found in
a single sentence in one of the texts.
 Identify the keywords that are likely to guide you to the information in the text, scan the
text for these words until you find the information
 you can look for in the four texts to find where this type of information in presented.
  First Paragraph of TEXT A talks about the long term uses of the analgesics (synonym of
analgesics is used in the question-painkiller)
 Once you’ve found the information, you need to understand the type of word or phrase
you need to answer the question.
 Here, they are asking for a symptom that get worse with the continued use of analgesics.
 According to the given text, headache may develop or increase with continued use of
analgesics, and no other symptoms are mentioned in the given text. So, we can conclude
that headache is the symptom that get worse with continued use of painkillers.
 If you’re confident you’ve identified the information in one of the texts, without checking
the other texts, write your answer down and move on.

Similarly, we can do questions 9-13

Question 14-20 Sentence completion

14.If a patient has taken metoclopramide alongside paracetamol, this may affect the
______________________ of the paracetamol.

To answer Sentence Completion questions, you need to fill the gaps in each sentence with a word or
short phrase from one of the texts. The process for answering these questions is similar to that used
for Short Answer questions. Look at the words in the sentence that are likely to guide you to the
information in the text, scan the text for these words until you find the information, and identify the
word or short phrase that is most likely to complete the sentence.

 Identifying keywords- metoclopramide

 Since TEXT A contains information about interaction with other medicinal products and
other forms of interaction, it is very likely that this information is contained in this text.
 Scan for the keyword in TEXT A until you find answer and identify the word or short
phrase that is most likely to complete the sentence.
 Before completing the sentence, read the sentence to yourself (in your head, not out
loud) with your answer, to confirm that the sentence makes sense using the words you
have chosen. If it does, complete the sentence. If it does not make sense, read the
relevant piece of information more closely, and choose another word or short phrase.

Similarly, we can do questions 15-20.

(In video full portion will be covered)

tips:

 The questions in this section are not given in the order that the four texts appear, so if
you’ve just answered a question with information from the third text, this does not
mean that the next question will be in the final text. Make sure to check all four of the
texts to find the answer.
 You don’t need test practice materials to practice this skill. If you have textbooks or
manuals which include summary points at the end of each chapter, you can set yourself
a time limit to find the parts of the chapter the summary refers to. (You can even use an
index for this exercise.) As you work, notice the types of words and phrases which help
you.