Here we come to several strategies to increase your Interactive Reading section scores. Please be aware that you should read and apply to practice on your Duolingo English Test Practice Platform at the same time to get the most out of them.
To those who haven’t known yet, your Interactive Reading scores contribute to your Duolingo English Test Literacy and Comprehension. So if you wish to advance these sub-scores, you will need to practice this section on a daily basis.
From our point of view, theInteractive Reading section is the most intriguing because it includes FIVE different question types apart from the others. Therefore, you will see a general strategy for the whole section; and you will also experience specific strategies for each question type.
If you are ready, let’s get down to business.
I. A general strategy for the whole section
1. Read the whole passage
Each question appears once per time, and all of them are about one single passage. Therefore, you need to understand the whole passage if you want to answer each question correctly. Usually, test-takers spend around 30 seconds scanning through the passage before answering questions.
But why do you only need to scan through the passage instead of reading it carefully? Firstly, you only need to get the main idea of the passage; what is it talking about? Secondly, there are five different question types; most of the time, you will need to read the passage again in order to give the correct answers. As a result, you should not spend time understanding itcompletely in the beginning.
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2. Read the question carefully
No matter how challenging or easy the questions are, you still need to read them VERY CAREFULLY. If you misunderstand the questions, you will have no points evenif you answer them correctly.
There are six questions in each Interactive Reading set, and you cannot go back to change your answers once you submit them. So, please pay close attention to each question before answering.
3. Pay attention to keywords
Pay close attention to keywords and remember them to find the answers that will ensure your success. When you focus on keywords, it’s much easier to find out the idea of the passage, which is truly helpful in answering all questions.
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4. Don’t miss any questions
You definitely don’t want to miss any questions because you cannot go back to redo it. Our suggestion is to make sure you answer all questions before moving forward in order not to lose points.
5. Pay attention to the remaining time
Each Interactive Reading set lasts for seven or eight minutes, depending on the difficult levels. When the question appears, the timer starts at the same time, so you need to manage your time properly by paying attention to it. We will let you know how many minutes you should use for each question in the next paragraphs.
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6. Don’t regret what you have done
This always costs test-takers more time than they could imagine. For example, after they answer the first question, “Complete the Sentences” and find out that they picked the wrong ones, they usually regret what they chose. However, regret will make them lose focus on the next questions.
To stop the feeling of regret, you should only concentrate on the questions because it is how you can enhance your Duolingo English Test scores.
II. Specific strategies for each question type
The Interactive Reading is the most special question as each set includes FIVE different question types; your job is to understand each of them completely in order to optimise your skills and aim for higher scores.
To create a detailed and easy-to-apply strategy, we will be using question 5, Level 3 in our library, as an example.
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1. Complete the Sentences
This question asks test-takers to choose one correct word from the given ones to fill out the blanks. We have around 7-9 blanks in each set.
a. Eliminate the wrong words
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In the second blank, we have five words, including Occasional, Rare, Scarce, Regular, and Likely. First of all, we will eliminate all grammatical or meaning wrong words (or words that you know are wrong for sure); in this case, we will erase Scarce and Likely.
b. Put words into the context
Next step, we will put all the remaining words into the context and keep eliminating the wrong words. Rare is obviously the wrong word here because it talks about the job that Harold did not want to do; therefore, “on a rare basic” is not the correct answer.
c. Read previous and next sentences
If the previous two steps do not help, you may need to read the previous and next sentences carefully to find out more keywords and information. When you have more information about the passage, you stand a better chance of picking the correct word.
Time management: In our view, Complete the Sentences is the most difficult question type in the Interactive Reading as there are around 7-9 blanks that need to be completed in the beginning. As a result, test-takers often spend around two or three minutes completing all the blanks.
To lots of test-takers, this set of questions is quite challenging to get the highest scores. Understandably, the main reason is that it’s new, and you haven’t practiced enough to become familiar with it. Your DET Practice Platform includes thousands of practice questions and a hundred Interactive Reading sets. On top of that, we offer instant feedback for your Speaking and Writing answers.
