The difficulty in Reading is not the passages — it is the clock. Sixty minutes for 40 answers is about 90 seconds per question including the reading. So the strategy is never «understand everything»; it is «find the right place fast».
What it is: You decide whether a statement matches the passage (True), contradicts it (False), or is simply not addressed (Not Given).
Tactic: False vs Not Given: False means the text says the opposite; Not Given means the text says nothing about it. Use only the passage, never your own knowledge. Words like «all», «most», «only», «never» often signal False.
What it is: The same task, but testing the writer's opinion rather than facts.
Tactic: Hunt for opinion markers: «it seems likely», «arguably», «unfortunately». The question is about what the writer thinks, not about other people's views described in the text.
What it is: You choose a heading for each paragraph from a list. There are always more headings than paragraphs.
Tactic: Read the first and last sentence of the paragraph — the main idea usually lives there. Never pick a heading that only matches one detail; it has to cover the whole paragraph.
What it is: You find which paragraph contains a given piece of information.
Tactic: These do not follow the passage order and eat the most time — leave them until last. Scan for the eye-catching words: names, dates, numbers.
What it is: You fill a gap in a summary or sentence with a word from the passage.
Tactic: Work out the part of speech first, then search. Keep the word exactly as the passage has it, and respect the limit: «ONE WORD ONLY» means one.
What it is: One correct option out of four (sometimes two out of five).
Tactic: Delete the clearly wrong options first. Usually two remain and the difference is a single word — confirm that word in the passage.
Splitting 60 minutes evenly looks sensible, but the third passage is the hardest. So save time at the start and keep a reserve for the end.
The easiest one. Every minute saved here goes to passage 3.
Medium difficulty. If time runs out, never leave a blank — there is no penalty for a wrong answer.
The hardest passage, and usually where most of the Not Given questions sit.
Check every box is filled. Reading has no separate transfer time — write answers straight onto the answer sheet as you go.
Each level has its own barrier — going from 5.5 to 6.5 and going from 6.5 to 7.5 are two completely different pieces of work.
Build speed: practise finishing one passage in 20 minutes. At this level the marks are lost to running out of time, not to misunderstanding.
Drill True/False/Not Given and matching headings on their own — those two types are what keep people below 7. For every mistake, find the exact sentence and write down why you were wrong.
Vocabulary decides it: the passages get more ambiguous and idiomatic. Twenty minutes of popular-science reading a day does more than another practice test.
Karvon's drills are timed and, after each answer, show you which part of the passage carried the answer.