Reading is the part with the most texts and the most time pressure. A good strategy per text type saves precious minutes.
How is the reading exam structured?
Reading I consists of 6 texts of roughly 400 to 1700 words, with 35 multiple-choice questions, in 110 minutes, with a pass mark of 24 out of 35.
The target question: why was this text written?
Every non-scanning text (texts 1 through 5) has exactly one question about the text's purpose. Pay attention: that's a different question from what the text is *about*. Think carefully about *why* the text was written, for example to inform, to persuade or to warn.
Scanning reading in the last text
Text 6 is different: it consists entirely of scanning questions. Here you don't read the entire text from start to finish, but scan purposefully for the answer you're looking for.
Time management: how many minutes per text?
With 110 minutes for 6 texts, you have on average roughly 18 minutes per text, though longer texts will logically take more time than shorter ones. Keep track of how much time you have left as you work through the texts.
Common pitfalls
The most common mistake is staying too long with the first, often hardest text, which leaves you short of time for the rest of the exam. Spread your attention consciously, and leave a difficult question for later if needed to come back to it.
Practise with reading texts of real exam size
Inburgerify's reading exercises follow the same structure and pass mark as the real exam, including the target question and scanning reading in the last text.
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