Reading test - practice with the Cito test

• English
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 3

CITO Reading Tests

Test Week Test: Cito Reading

Reading tests, that's always tricky. Texts are full of things that are important and things that are less important.

How do you filter what is important and what is not? Here are some tips to score maximum on your reading test!

Strategies during the reading test

Before reading

First, try to form a picture of the text. What type of text is it? For example, is it a letter, article or advertisement?

Then look at the title of the text and think about what you already know about the subject. Look at any pictures or headings. It is also useful to look at the assignment/questions that go with the text beforehand.

Strategies during the reading test

While reading

You can then read the text in different ways :

• First, you're going to skim the text, which is to read the text quickly so you know roughly what the text is about. You look at the striking bits and per paragraph the first and last sentence
• Then you're going to scan the text, looking for specific information.
• Finally, you will read the text intensively, reading the text all the way through.

Strategies during the reading test

Answering the questions

When you have read the text carefully, you are going to look at the questions again carefully . There are different types of questions:

- For questions about the whole text, you are going to skim again and look for clues to the answer.

- For questions about particular information, you may start scanning and looking for the right words.

Strategies during the reading test

- When line numbers are given, it is helpful if you read the entire paragraph around that.

- For multiple-choice questions, the questions are usually in order of the text. Read only the part where you think the answer is. Then try to give your own answer first and then try to see which answer most closely resembles your own.

So for each question, try to find the right piece of text where you can find the answer. This means that you will read some parts several times. If you really can't find the answer, go to the next question and come back to it later. Maybe you will have seen the answer in another place by then!

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Now You Try!

You have a booklet that is made up of old Mavo and Havo Cito Tests. These are the level you can expect in the test week test. 

Highlight the important thing in the question (key words) and then highlight the part of the text where you can find the answer. 

Top Tip! Time Management

There will be 7 reading texts in the TEST WEEK TEST: You have 50 minutes. Remember to check how you are doing for time. Does the last text give you a lot of points/have a lot of questions? Or is there a text somewhere in the test that offers a lot of points. Make sure you leave time for that!

Final Tip! 

Answer all the questions. Never leave any of the answers blank.

Even if you have run out of time, just randomly guess the answers but make sure you fill something in. 

No answer is No points. 

You might just get lucky  - If it is multiple choice you have a 33% chance of guessing the correct answer.